Brad Hodge appointed as Kings XI Punjab coach

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Former Australian batsman Brad Hodge has been appointed as the coach of the Kings XI Punjab team ahead of 2018 IPL, the team management confirmed to Pune Mirror.

In spite of the franchise giving him the role of head coach, it has been revealed that he will report to Virender Sehwag, who is the highest authority in the team.

With the BCCI framing new conflict of interest rules, Kings XI lost a lot of members of their support staff including the likes of India's batting coach Sanjay Bangar, fielding coach R Sridhar, video analyst Ashish Tuli and physio Patrick Farhart, who have joined the Indian team.

This means the Victorian, Hodge, will just have former Delhi captain Mithun Minhas and Karnataka batsman J Arun Kumar as his support staff. Hodge, who has played for Kolkata Knight Riders, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, was the coach of Gujarat Lions in the two seasons they were in the IPL.

In his first stint as the Gujarat Lions coach, Hodge took the side to the playoffs where they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator and qualifiers respectively. In the second season, Hodge's Lions finished seventh with just eight points in 14 matches.

Hodge's main objective will be turning the fortunes of Kings XI as the franchise have never won the IPL in the last eight seasons, with one appearance in the final being their best finish. Hodge will have a crucial part to play in deciding whom to retain and whom to release from the Kings XI squad ahead of the 2018 IPL auction.

Hodge is one of the best T20 batsmen to have played the format, having scored 7338 runs in 256 innings at an average of 37 and a strike-rate of 132.

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