Upton and Dravid have worked closely together in the past

South Africa performance director Paddy Upton has replaced Monty Desai as the Rajasthan Royals new head coach for this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is set to get underway on April 3.

Desai was the head coach of the Royals for the past two seasons of the tournament.

Upton, 44, stated that he was looking forward to working with the entire team, especially captain Rahul Dravid.

“It is an honour for me to coach a dynamic team like Rajasthan Royals,” Upton said. “It will be wonderful to work with Rahul [Dravid] once more. The team has some very talented players who have been noticed by the cricketing fraternity because of their phenomenal attitude and undying team spirit. Going into the new season, I am looking at instilling fresh confidence into the team.”

Dravid, who has worked with Upton in the past, is hoping that he can inject some energy into the squad and lead them to the title this year.

“I greatly respect him for his knowledge and professionalism,” Dravid said. “We welcome him to Rajasthan Royals and look forward to working with him in the coming months.”

Upton was the mental conditioning coach of the Indian team until the 2011 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup and was always seen as a vital part of the support staff, which was led by then coach Gary Kirsten.