Ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are on the lookout for new coaching staff after the franchise decided to part ways with Director of Cricket Mike Hesson and head coach Sanjay Bangar, according to reports.
According to a report in Indian Express, the franchise is set to change its coaching staff as they are looking to bring its trophy-less campaign to an end. Since the inaugural season in 2008, RCB have failed to win a single IPL title and been a subject of debate for a long time.
Hesson was appointed by the RCB as the team’s Director of Cricket Operations ahead of the IPL 2020 season. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar replaced Simon Katich in 2022 as the new head coach of the side.
Hesson was one of the top candidates to become India’s head coach in 2019 and finished second to Ravi Shastri, who was retained. Just a few days after missing out on becoming Team India’s head coach, Hesson joined RCB along with Simon Katich.
Bangar couldn’t retain his job as Team India’s batting coach during that period. He took up commentary and stayed away from coaching for the next two years. The former India all-rounder joined RCB as their batting consultant ahead of IPL 2021. He was named RCB’s head coach for IPL 2022 and 2023.
RCB made it to the second rounds of IPL 2020, 2021 and 2022. They lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator of IPL 2020 and came up short against Kolkata Knight Riders in the eliminator of IPL 2021. In 2022, RCB managed to win the eliminator but fell short against Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.
RCB underwent a big change during the Hesson-Bangar era as Virat Kohli left captaincy after IPL 2021. The franchise bought Faf du Plessis in the IPL 2022 mega-auction and handed him the top job.
The Faf du Plessis-led side struggled in IPL 2023 and finished at the sixth spot in the points table with 7 wins from 14 matches. RCB had a better NRR than fourth-placed Mumbai Indians and just one more win would have seen them qualify for the playoffs.
