Former South Africa pace ace Dale Steyn will not return to the IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Confirming his decision late Wednesday, October 16 night on X (previously Twitter), Steyn thanked the SRH management while mentioning that he will continue to be with the franchise's offshoot in the SA20, Sunrisers Eastern Cape as they look to go for the three-peat after having won the title in the first two editions.
"A big thank you to Sunrisers Hyderabad for my few years with them as bowling coach at the IPL, unfortunately, I won’t be returning for IPL 2025," Steyn wrote. "However, I will continue to work with Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20 here in South Africa. Two time winners here in SA20, let’s try make it THREE in a row."
Steyn, who had been part of the Sunrisers franchise as a player in the past, was appointed as the bowling coach ahead of the 2022 edition. Steyn famously worked extensively with Umran Malik in his two years with the franchise in 2022 an 2023 before missing the 2024 edition due to personal reasons.
SRH revamped their coaching staff in 2024 with Daniel Vettori taking over the reins but Steyn was retained. However, with Steyn pulling out, Sunrisers appointed former New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin as his replacement and might look to continue with him since the left-armer has worked with Vettori in the past in the Hundred for the Birmingham Phoenix.
On the other hand, the Sunrisers are on the verge of finalising their retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction with Heinrich Klaasen reportedly set to be retained in the first bracket for INR 23 crore, followed by skipper Pat Cummins (INR 18 crore) and Abhishek Sharma (INR 14 crore). Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy will likely be the remaining two pre-auction retentions for SRH ahead of IPL 2025.
