The 44-year-old mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, of the South African cricket team will coach the Royals in the sixth season of the Pepsi Indian Premier League scheduled to be held in April.

Upton had assisted former Indian coach Gary Kirsten as mental conditioning coach, instructing the Indian national cricket team that went on to win the 2011 ICC World Cup. The South African cricket team became the No. 1 test-playing nation under the tutelage of Kirsten and Upton.