Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has been roped in by SunRisers Hyderabad as their head coach ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024 season. SRH confirmed the development on Monday, 7 August via their social media accounts.
SRH parted ways with Brian Lara after the franchise’s poor outing in the 2023 edition of the tournament where they finished last despite amassing an impressive array of players. Vettori, who had been working as the spin bowling coach with the Australian team has coached Royal Challengers Bangalore before.
Daniel Vettori made his debut in Test cricket at the young age of 18, becoming the youngest male player to represent New Zealand. As a left-arm spinner, Vettori was an invaluable asset to the team, being only the eighth all-rounder to take 300 Test wickets and make 3000 runs. His prowess as a lower-order batsman was also notable, scoring over 4,500 Test runs, including six centuries.
Vettori’s coaching career began after his retirement from all forms of cricket following the 2015 Cricket World Cup. He served as the head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League from 2014 to 2018.
He also became the spin bowling coach for the Bangladesh national side. In August 2021, Vettori took up the role of head coach for the Caribbean Premier League franchise Barbados Royals. Under his guidance as the assistant and spin bowling coach for Australia, Vettori helped Nathan Lyon to sustain his performance and unearthed gems like Todd Murphy. Murphy on his debut Test against India picked 7 wickets.
SRH have been tottering at the bottom half of the table since the 2021 season. They have finished last in two of the last three seasons of the Indian Premier League. The team has changed three captains – David Warner, Kane Williamson and, Aiden Markram in the last three years and with Vettori’s appointment changed 3 coaches as well. Before Brian Lara, SRH had sacked Tom Moody for failing to deliver.
