The former Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald has been named the new head coach of the Rajasthan Royals. McDonald didn’t have an illustrious international career as a player, but his profile as a coach is magnificent. He has coached first class teams and franchises in Australia and England and has done that with some degree of success.
Victoria won the Sheffield Shield under him, while the 48-year old also guided the Melbourne Renegades to the Big Bash title earlier this year. The Renegades had finished at the second last position in the Big Bash League in 2018. McDonald took over and turned their fortunes upside down.
McDonald has been associated with IPL both as a player and as a coach in the past. He wasn’t the head coach, but he was the bowling coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2012. As a player, he was a part of the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) franchise in 2009.
Announcing the appointment of McDonald, the executive chairman of the Rajasthan Royals Mr. Ranjit Barthakur said, “We are delighted to appoint Andrew as our head coach. He shares our belief of discovering potential and championing dreams and is aligned with our vision to continue to drive innovation in the IPL.”
The Rajasthan Royals were the first ever winners of the Indian Premier League back in 2008 when they had beaten the Chennai Super Kings in the final. But, since then, they haven’t managed to qualify for the finals of the tournament even once.
They have had different coaches and mentors at different stages in the past including the great Shane Warne, but the results have remained more or less the same. Now they are hoping for a change in fortunes under McDonald who is well and truly capable of doing that.
