Continuing the process of reforming their coaching staff, the Kings XI Punjab have roped in former Australian pacer Ryan Harris as the new bowling coach for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He will replace Venkatesh Prasad who assumed duties during the last season of the cash-rich tournament.
Besides Ryan, former New Zealand cricketer Craig McMillan has been appointed as the fielding coach, Sridharan Sriram as batting coach, Prasanna Raman as the high-performance coach and Brett Harrop as the physio.
Earlier, the franchise appointed former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson who replaced Brad Hodge as the head coach.
“Having quality coaches like Harris and McMillan will be a great asset to the team. They have both performed as players on the big stage and have made the transition into quality coaches. They will be excellent additions to the coaching team,” coach Mike Hesson said on the new appointments.
Apart from the coaching staff, the Mohali-based franchise has made major changes in their player pool ahead of the 12th season. They have released as many as 11 players (9 Indians, 2 overseas) from their contracts. They have also traded Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Mandeep Singh in the pre-auction transfer.
All these changes were made after their disappointing performance in the previous season despite beginning with promisingly. They won 5 of their first six matches but terribly lost their way in the lost their way in the second half.