Amid major overhaul, Royal Challengers Bangalore sacks Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra

In a major overhaul to their support staff, Royal Challengers Bangalore have announced the sacking of Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra as the batting and bowling coach respectively, and inducted former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson as director of cricket and Simon Katich as head coach.

RCB concluded at the bottom of the table in the Indian Premier League 2019, after suffering eight losses out of their 14 games. RCB have always had big names in their side, but are yet to win the title despite making to the IPL finals on three different occasions, in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

“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, the RCB chairman.“As a result of this restructuring exercise, we will be moving to a single coach model.

“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.”

Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson was also in contention for the role of Indian head coach, but missed out after Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) opted to stick with Ravi Shastri. However, CAC has disclosed that Hesson was really close to getting the job.

Simon Katich was recently appointed as coach of Manchester Originals in The Hundred, and has won back to back CPL titles as coach of Trinbago Kinght Riders. He also has ample experience in the IPL, having worked with Kolkata Knight Riders since 2016.

On the other hand, Gary Kirsten worked with the RCB for just over a year, having succeeded Daniel Victtori, the former New Zealand cricketer.