Victoria’s head coach Andrew McDonald is in contention to be Rajasthan Royals’ next coach. The former Test all-rounder has been interviewed by the franchise to be the next chief coach. It is reported by The Age that McDonald has gone through the application process. Andrew McDonald will replace (if he gets selected) Paddy Upton who had coached the team last year.
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Andrew McDonald has a solid resume as he had led Victoria to Sheffield Shield glory in the 2016-17 season. He had also led Victoria to Australian cricket’s domestic treble last summer and also helped them win the One Day Cup. Furthermore, he had led Melbourne Renegades to their maiden Big Bash League title in the previous edition.
Andrew McDonald has a strong coaching CV.
McDonald has also signed as the inaugural coach of Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, which is England cricket’s new short-form tournament which begins next year. In fact, it is also reported that former England coach Andy Flower is also in contention to be the Royals coach.
Andrew McDonald will join former Test teammate Ricky Ponting in the IPL as a head coach. The former Australian captain is the chief coach of the Delhi Capitals.
Meanwhile, if McDonald is selected as the head coach, he will have players like Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Steven Smith under his belt.
On the other hand, Shane Warne had led Rajashtan Royals to the inaugural IPL crown in 2008. However, the team hasn’t finished above the third-place since its first title. Furthermore, Rajasthan Royals had won only five matches out of the 14 they played in the previous season of the IPL. Thus, they had failed to make the cut into the playoff stages.
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Royals also had removed their first-choice captain Ajinkya Rahane from the captaincy role in the fag end of the tourney. However, he had once again led the franchise after Steven Smith had gone back for national duties.