IPL: Sunrisers Hyderabad part ways with Tom Moody, name Brian Lara as head coach

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have named West Indies legend Brian Lara as their head coach ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

In an announcement made on their official Twitter account, SRH confirmed Lara as their new coach for the upcoming seasons.

"The cricketing legend Brian Lara will be our head coach for the upcoming #IPL seasons," said SRH in a statement.

This will be Lara's first assignment as the coach of an IPL team.

SRH also confirmed that they have parted ways with Australia's Tom Moody, who had two stints with the Orange Army as their head coach. Under Moody, SRH won the IPL title in 2016.

"As his term with us draws to an end, we would like thank Tom for his contributions to SRH. It has been a much cherished journey over the years, and we wish him the very best for future endeavours," SRH wrote in a Tweet.

Lara, who served as the strategic advisor and batting coach of SRH last season, has a massive task on his hand as SRH are looking to turn tables around in the upcoming seasons. SRH failed to reach the playoffs in their last two seasons and 2018 was the last time when they reached the final, where they lost to MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Moody's first stint was from 2013 to 2019 before England's Trevor Bayliss took over for the next two years. Ahead of the IPL 2022, SRH had renamed Moody as their head coach but SRH, who had a fine start to the season, ended up eighth in the table with just six wins from 14 league games.

Australia's Moody was recently appointed as the director of cricket for the Desert Vipers, which will be one of the sides in the International League T20. The tournament is scheduled to begin in the UAE next year in January.

Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated former champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the final of IPL 2022. It was Hardik Pandya-led GT's maiden appearance in the tournament.