Michael Bevan leaves Madurai Super Giants due to 'personal reasons'
Former Australian legend Michael Bevan, coach of the Madurai Super Giants, has left the Tamil Nadu Premier League due to ‘personal reasons’. Having coached the side for just two matches, Bevan left for Australia, with the team unsure whether the 46-year old will return for the remainder of the tournament.
The incident has dealt a major blow to the Super Giants’ chances, who have been coping with three straight losses, and are currently placed second last in the table with no wins to their credit, and a net run rate of minus 0.446.
Bevan gave indications of a possible relinquishment of his position as the head coach a few hours before Giants’ match against Kovai Kings. The team took to Twitter to announce that the support staff featuring AR Srikkanth and Russell Radhakrishnan will take over the coaching responsibilities.
We're elated to announce @arsrikkanth & @russcsk are promoted as coaches of #MaduraiSuperGiants #TNPL pic.twitter.com/6pNbO9TyR5
— Madurai Super Giants (@MSGteamofficial) September 2, 2016
A source close to the franchise said: "He has left for Australia only because of personal commitments and nothing else. We are not sure on when he would come back. For now, Srikkanth and Russell are the coaches. They have been with us ever since the start of the season and they have a lot of experience in handling T20 teams,"
Incidentally, Bevan had left his coaching commitments midway during his stint for Orissa in the 2011-12 season. He also coached Chennai Superstars in the now defunct ICL, and subsequently the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.
Apart from Bevan, the other international players who are part of the TNPL setup include Lance Klusener, who is the coach of Kovai Kings, and Brett Lee, who is the mentor and brand ambassador of Ruby Kanchi Warriors.
Bevan played 232 ODIs and 18 Tests for Australia in a decade-long international career, scoring 6912 and 785 runs respectively. He is considered as one of the greatest finishers of all time, steering Australia to a number of memorable chases in one-day internationals.