Days after parting ways with the Mumbai Indians, former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond joined Rajasthan Royals in a dual role ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Bond joined the Royals as their assistant as well as bowling coach, a role that he performed during his 9-year-long stint with Mumbai Indians. Rajasthan Royals' Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara welcomed Bond to the franchise in a statement: "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."
Shane Bond himself expressed his thoughts after signing with the Royals, days after it was announced that he was moving on from the Mumbai Indians franchise: "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. "Shane Bond worked with Mumbai Indians from 2015 to 2023, playing a key role in their title triumphs in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 to become one of the most decorated and celebrated coaches in franchise history. Bond also worked as the head coach of the MI Emirates franchise in the inaugural edition of ILT20."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," the Royals said in a statement. An express pace bowler in his day, Bond has, played 18 Tests for New Zealand between 2001 and 2009, and also served as the bowling coach for the Kiwis between 2012 to 2015. He was part of the dressing room that made it to the summit clash of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.
