IPL 2024: Royal Challengers Bangalore appoint Andy Flower as new head coach of men's team

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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have appointed former Zimbabwe cricketer and ICC Hall of Famer Andy Flower as the new coach of the men's IPL team. The Bangalore-based franchise didn't renew the contract of head coach Sanjay Bangar along with Director of Cricket, Mike Hesson, for the next edition.

Flower (55) was the coach of IPL team Lucknow Super Giants during IPL 2022-23 seasons but the Lucknow-based franchise didn't give the former England cricket team coach an extension after a forgettable outing this year.

The franchise on its handle X, formerly Twitter, wrote, "We are beyond thrilled to welcome 𝗜𝗖𝗖 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿 and 𝗧𝟮𝟬 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽 winning coach 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 as the 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 of RCB Men's team.

"Andy's experience of coaching IPL & T20 teams around the world, and leading his teams to titles at the PSL, ILT20, The Hundred and Abu Dhabi T10 will help in developing a championship-winning mindset and take RCB's #PlayBold philosophy forward."

One of the finest batters in the world, Andy Flower had a successful career as a cricketer for Zimbabwe with a batting average of 51.54 and 12 hundreds from 63 Test matches to his name. Both as a player and later as a coach, Flower has a successful track record in Indian conditions.

In a statement released by the RCB, Flower said, "I am really proud to be joining RCB. I'm truly honoured to represent a franchise of their size, reputation and standing. RCB have an unrivalled fan following and I can't wait to fully experience the atmosphere in the Chinnaswamy next season."

RCB IPL Journey Under Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar

Mike Hesson - the former New Zealand cricket team coach - joined RCB in August 2019 after the team RCB finished last in that IPL season. Bangar, the former India batting coach, was appointed as the head coach of the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 season. He succeeded Simon Katich in the role.

In the IPL 2020 season, RCB lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator and bowed out of the competition. In the IPL 2021 season - which was held in India and UAE - they lost in the Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

In IPL 2022, they lost to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2. In the IPL 2023 edition, RCB - under the captaincy of former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis - failed to qualify for the playoffs.

In a revamp ahead of the new season, LSG appointed former Australia cricketer and ex-coach Justin Langer ahead of IPL 2024 and let go of Flower. This will be Langer's debut stint as a coach of an IPL franchise.

The team management didn't specify the reason to end their association with Flower but the team's performance this year could be the only reason. There is also doubt over the fate of LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir.