We are beyond thrilled to welcome and winning coach as the of RCB Men's team.
Andy's experience of coaching IPL & T20 teams around the world, and leading his teams to titles pic.twitter.com/WsMYGCkcYT
Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) August 4, 2023
Andy Flower takes over as head coach at Royal Challengers Bangalore
Written by I Dig Sports
Published in
Cricket
Friday, 04 August 2023 00:56
Andy Flower has been appointed head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore as the franchise looks to overturn a disappointing IPL 2023, where they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. The exact duration of the contract has not been made public. At RCB, Flower will reunite with Faf du Plessis, the captain, who he worked with earlier during his time with St Lucia Kings in the CPL.
"I recognise the work put in by Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar, who are two coaches I respect," Flower said in an RCB statement. "I'm particularly excited to be reunited with Faf. We have worked very well together in the past I look forward to forging our partnership and relationship into something bigger and better."
The franchise is expected to appoint a Director of Cricket Operation (DCO) over the "next couple of months", according to vice-president Rajesh Menon. The new DCO will advice the senior management on changes within the support staff group. It's likely this person will bring in a new team. This could leave a question mark over the future Adam Griffiths (bowling coach), S Sriram (assistant coach) and Malolan Rangarajan (lead scout and fielding coach).
Till the end of the last IPL season, Flower was head coach of Lucknow Super Giants and was subsequently believed to have been in talks with Rajasthan Royals for a similar role. Under Flower, Super Giants made back-to-back playoffs in their first two years in the IPL. In July, he was replaced by Justin Langer, the former Australia coach. Prior to his stints with LSG, Flower had been associated with Punjab Kings in the IPL.
Flower comes on board with a decorated CV. A T20 World Cup-winning coach with England in 2010, the former Zimbabwe captain has also coached teams to titles at the PSL (Multan Sultans), ILT20 (Gulf Giants), and the men's Hundred (Trent Rockets). With Flower in charge, St Lucia Kings reached CPL final twice. Most recently, he worked with Australia as a consultant during the men's Ashes.
Hesson had stepped into the role in similar circumstances as Flower in 2019, after RCB chose not to renew their contracts with Gary Kirsten, Ashish Nehra and Vikram Solanki following a last-place finish that season.
Overall, Hesson led the team to three successive playoffs before the team fell away in their final must-win league game this year against Gujarat Titans. Bangar came on board in 2022, after Simon Katich's exit as head coach, upon Virat Kohli's recommendation.
As reported earlier, the RCB management was deliberating changes to its coaching staff with the contracts usually up for renewal around September. The franchise is believed to have been keen to give Flower enough runway leading into the auction.
Menon also confirmed RCB's women's team will also have a new head coach in place. However, the WPL management is "not likely" to come under the purview of the new DCO. "We wanted to have just the head coach and captain drive that ship." RCB women finished fifth among six teams during the inaugural season.
Three-time IPL finalists, RCB have never won the tournament. They last had a shot at the title in 2016, where they were pipped by Sunrisers Hyderabad in a close finish.
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