Speculation about the future of former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson ended on Friday after IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore appointed him as their new director of cricket operations.
Hesson was recently interviewed by the BCCI for the post India’s head coach but lost out to incumbent Ravi Shastri. The Kiwi had been linked to the Pakistan coach job and was also seen as a front-runner to take over as Bangladesh coach. However, he turned down both offers.
Hesson, who had earlier resigned as coach of Kings XI Punjab, will now head operations at the perennially struggling RCB with former Australia batsman Simon Katich as head coach. Royal Challengers thus parted ways coach and mentor Gary Kirsten, along with 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,” Sanjeev Churiwala, chairman of Royal Challengers Bangalore, said in a statement.
“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.
