The Royal Challengers Bangalore’s director of cricket operations, Mike Hesson, will stand down from his position on August 31 and be replaced by Andy Flower as head coach. Sanjay Bangar, the head coach of the RCB, and the remaining members of Hesson’s support staff are also expected to go.
According to a report from Cricbuzz dated July 18, Flower was in talks with a number of organisations, including the Rajasthan Royals. It is now clear that the Bengaluru-based company has retained his services for the ensuing years, nevertheless. Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, there is a chance that AB de Villiers, who made a significant contribution to the franchise’s success, may work with Flower as a mentor.
After his two-year deal with the Lucknow Super Giants expired after the IPL 2023, Flower’s affiliation with them ended earlier this year. Justin Langer has already joined the team that is controlled by Sanjiv Goenka.
The UK-based Diageo corporation, which owns RCB, is recognised for making well-informed judgements supported by thorough research. Hesson’s appointment in 2019 came after a similarly thorough hiring procedure. Evidently, the team did a thorough examination of Flower, a highly regarded player in the world of cricket.
The St. Lucia Zouks in the CPL (2020), the Multan Sultans in the PSL (2021), and the Gulf Giants in the ILT20 (2023) are just a few of the T20 teams that Flower is involved with on a global scale. He also provided advice to the coaching staff of the Australian team during the just-completed Ashes series. He actually spent the final three Ashes Tests in the Australian team’s dressing room.
Text message attempts to reach Flower, RCB representatives, and captain Faf du Plessis have so far gone unanswered. However, rumours that have been circulating among Indian Premier League fans clearly imply that the Flower deal has already been sealed. A decision on the coach cannot be made, according to franchise authorities who stated last month that the contracts of the Hesson-led staff were still in effect.
Hesson started working with RCB in 2019, a year in which the squad earned postseason spots three times. Unfortunately, Shubman Gill’s outstanding performance in a match they had to win prevented them from achieving their goal of finishing in the top four of the IPL 2023.
