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The former New Zealand all-rounder, James Franklin, has replaced Dale Steyn as the new bowling coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the IPL 2024 season. It has been reported that the South African great, Dale Steyn, who was in the bowling coach role with the SRH since 2022, has pulled out from the upcoming IPL season due to personal reasons.
James Franklin has been a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) during his playing days, appearing in 20 matches for Mumbai Indians in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. During his IPL career, he scored 327 runs at an average of 29.73, but his strike rate was just 108.43 while picking up nine wickets at an economy of 9.02 runs per over.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s appointment of James Franklin in the bowling coach role will be the first such stint for him in the IPL , as per the report from ESPNcricinfo, who broke this big news . The 43-year-old will also link up with his former New Zealand teammate Daniel Vettori at the SRH, who had already replaced Brian Lara in the role of head coach after the disastrous IPL 2023 season.
James Franklin and Daniel Vettori have already worked together in coaching roles with the Middlesex County Cricket Club and the Birmingham Phoenix team in The Hundred in England. Also, the former New Zealand all-rounder has been the head coach of Durham County Cricket Club in England, apart from reprising the assistant coaching role at Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The task at Sunrisers Hyderabad is cut out for both Franklin and Vettori, especially after the franchise finished in eighth place in IPL 2022 under Tom Moody before ending 2023 in tenth and last place in the tournament. At the auction table, SRH splurged a massive sum of money on the highly successful international captain from Australia, Pat Cummins, who is expected to replace Aiden Markram of South Africa in the captaincy role at the Hyderabad-based franchise.
