RCB ends term of Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar: Explained why team management sacked them

Bengaluru, Aug 4: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday (August 4) announced the appointment of former Zimbabwe cricketer Andy Flower as the Head Coach. With that, their association with Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar came to an end.

Mike Hesson - the former New Zealand coach - was the Director of Operations Cricket - and former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar was the head coach of the Bengaluru-based franchise. IPL 2024: Royal Challengers Bangalore appoint Andy Flower as new head coach of men's team

RCB part ways with Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar

In the official release, the Bengaluru-based franchise placed its gratitude to both the dignitaries for all their efforts during their time with RCB for the last four seasons. Prathmesh Mishra, Chief Commercial Officer, Diageo India, and Chairman of RCB, in the official statement from the franchise, extended his gratitude to the two.

"We would like to thank Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar for their excellent work in the past four seasons culminating in three play-offs. Their professionalism and work ethics have always been held in high regard. They leave us with a legacy of having given several young players the confidence to show their ability at the highest stage," said Prathmesh Mishra.

Andy Flower succeeds Sanjay Bangar as RCB coach

Andy Flower - who has been a successful international and franchise cricket team coach - will face the uphill task of guiding one of the most popular T20 teams in the world to lift their maiden title. Flower was sacked by IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants after the newly added team - which debuted in IPL in 2021 - failed to qualify for the playoffs this IPL season.

Andy Flower (55) has coached teams (franchise and international) for over a decade and in that time has won PSL, The Hundred, ILT20, and T10. He was also a hugely successful coach for England, winning home and away Ashes campaigns as well as the T20 World Cup in 2010.

England became the No.1 ranked Test team in the world under his watch. He is also the first player from Zimbabwe to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He had a successful cricketing career 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.

Why RCB sacked Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar?

RCB confirmed the decision why they didn't renew the contracts of Hesson as Director of Cricket Operations and Sanjay Bangar as head coach. The franchise claimed the decision was taken after the internal review team concluded post the end of IPL 2023 season. RCB finished sixth in this year's IPL season as the Faf du Plessis-led side won seven league games and lost as many.

The team management's selection of players during the IPL 2023 Auction and later performance of players came under scrutiny as the franchise's performance wasn't impressive. Led by former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis as Virat Kohli had stepped down as captain. Royal Challengers Bangalore's new head coach Andy Flower vows to take RCB to new heights

RCB started IPL 2023 on a dull note as they could only win two of their first five games in the tournament. By the time team management got the combinations right and positive results started coming in, RCB were trailing in the race to playoffs and played the catch-up game.

Experts and critics questioned the frailties of Hesson and Bangar in the early phase of the tournament, which proved costly for the team. The team looked heavily dependent upon their KGF (Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and Faf) in the batting department. The bowling line-up also looked weak in the absence of overseas players who got injured before or during the course of the tournament. The team management lacked good replacements.

For the next edition, the franchise remains committed to its pursuit of excellence on and off the field. The stakeholders in the team are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and they are actively working towards building a strong and competitive unit for the upcoming seasons.