Royal Challengers Bangalore Rope In Mike Hesson And Simon Katich

Just days after losing the race of Team India coach, Mike Hesson has joined Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit Royal Challengers Bangalore as their Director of Cricket Operations. The Bangalore-based outfit has also named former Australia batsman Simon Katich as the Head Coach of the team.

In an official release on Friday (August 23), Royal Challengers Bangalore announced that it has parted ways with Gary Kirsten, the coach and mentor of the team in the previous seasons as well as bowling coach Ashish Nehra.

“RCB’s purpose is to be the most trusted, respected and best performing T20 Franchise and hence our constant endeavour is to create a culture of excellence and high performance for every member of the team. To deliver this ambition, we are very happy to announce the appointment of Mike Hesson and Simon Katich. We believe that Mike’s extensive experience in building strong teams along with Simon’s powerful cricket experience will help us create a winning culture,” said Sanjeev Churiwala, Chairman of Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“As a result of this restructuring exercise, we will be moving to a single coach model. Consequently, we would like to thank Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra for their contribution over the past two seasons. They leave us with a legacy of having given several young players the confidence to show their ability on the highest stage. Everyone at Royal Challengers Bangalore wishes them all the best in the future,” he added.

Royal Challengers Bangalore are one of the only teams in the IPL so far who are yet to win the league. They have made it to final thrice but lost on all the occasions. They last made it to the final in 2016 but their performance since then has only dipped. In the last three seasons, they have finished at the bottom twice while finishing at sixth on one occasion.

Also Read: Source Reveals Reason Behind Sanjay Bangar’s Exit As Team India Batting Coach

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping that their fortune changes with the new arrivals. Hesson is one of the most sought after coaches in the world right now. He has previously coached New Zealand and Kenya. He has also coached franchise teams like Kings XI Punjab and Otago Volts.

Hesson made a name for himself during his stint with New Zealand.Under his guidance, New Zealand rose to the pinnacle of T20I rankings, number 2 in ODIs and number 3 in Tests. Last year, New Zealand won their first-ever Test series over England since 1999. Overall, New Zealand won 21 of their 53 Tests, losing 19 under Hesson. In ODIs, they won 65 of their 119 ODIs with 46 losses and in T20Is won 30 of their 59.

Katich, on the other hand, was Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach since 2015 before being after the latest season. The Knight Riders have been one of the consistent teams in the IPL in the last few years and Katich will be eyeing the same performance with Royal Challengers Bangalore too.