“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.”
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
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.
For now, it’s unclear if Flower will have the chance to bring his own team of specialist coaches. RCB’s media statement made no mention of any other appointments. For the moment, Adam Griffiths is the bowling coach along with S Sriram and Malolan Rangarajan, who are assistant coach and fielding coach respectively.
Also on the cards are new appointments for RCB’s women’s team. Hesson had helmed that set-up at the inaugural Women’s Premier League season, where they finished fifth out of six teams. 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.