Paddy Upton has been appointed as head coach of the Rajasthan Royals for the 2019 season, which begins in March. This is Upton’s second stint as head coach of the franchise, having previously held the position between 2013 and 2015. Shane Warne, who was head coach in 2018, will likely assume a brand ambassadorial role, as earlier reported by ESPNcricinfo.
Upton was at the helm in 2013 when Rajasthan Royals turned their fortunes around after a bad start and made it to the semi-finals. In that season, Royals were also finalists in the now defunct Champions League, and under Upton, they were unbeaten in 12 consecutive home games. He also served as assistant coach to Gary Kirsten at India and South Africa.
Upton will form Royals’ central coaching group along with former Debyshire quick Steffan Jones, who had been appointed the franchise’s fast-bowling coach last season, and director of cricket Zubin Bharucha. Former Mumbai players Amol Muzumdar and Sairaj Bahutule have been retained as batting coach and spin-bowling coach respectively.