Rajasthan Royals on Monday announced that former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond has joined the franchise in the dual role of assistant coach and also the team's new fast bowling coach ahead of next year's IPL 2024 season.
One of the standout modern day fast bowlers, Bond has, in the past, served as the Bowling Coach for his national team between 2012 to 2015 where he helped them reach the final of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.
He was then employed by the Mumbai franchise in the IPL in 2015, contributing significantly to their success of winning four titles in nine seasons. Under his guidance, several fast bowlers, including renowned names like Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Trent Boult, and more, transformed into T20 specialists.
The 48-year-old will be reuniting with the latter at the Royals, along with potentially working on improving the current core of fast bowlers which includes Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Obed McCoy, KM Asif and Kuldip Yadav.
Welcoming the New Zealand veteran to the franchise, Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara said, "Shane is one of the greatest fast bowlers of modern day cricket, and brings with himself a wealth of experience and knowledge having mentored some of the best in the business.
He has served in the IPL and in India for a number of years and is well versed with the processes involved within the franchise ecosystem. He is someone who has a keen eye for helping the best become even better and we are delighted to welcome him to the franchise, and look forward to seeing the impact he can make towards moulding us into a title-winning team."
Meanwhile, Shane Bond expressed his first thoughts after signing with the Royals. "I’m delighted to be joining the Royals. It’s a forward thinking franchise who are determined to do well and I’m excited about being part of their vision. The bowling group is a great mix of youth and experience, and it will be awesome to work alongside them," said Bond.
The Royals would like to extend their gratitude to the departing Lasith Malinga for his immense contribution to the franchise during the two seasons he spent here, and would like to wish him the very best for his future endeavors.