Massive! Gary Kirsten, Ashish Nehra sacked as RCB coach, new management named

In a major overhaul to their scheme of things, Royal Challengers Bangalore have sacked Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra as the batting and bowling coach respectively. Instead, they have reinstated Mike Hesson as director of cricket and Simon Katich as head coach. 

Both Nehra and Kirsten were part of the leadership group and the side finished last in 2019 which prompted this change in the top management. As per Sanjeev Churiwala, the Royal Challengers chairman, this move was mandated as the franchise wanted to achieve "high performance".

"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," he said in a media statement.

New structure to be put into place

As per Churiwala, both Hesson and Simon Katich have the necessary experience to create a winning culture at Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB have been perennial underachievers in IPL - they have never won the title and have only reached the final on one occasion.

"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. As a result of this restructuring exercise, we will be moving to a single coach model."

RCB too issued a statement in which it informed that Hesson's responsibilities will also include being responsible for "defining policy, strategy, programs, scouting, performance management and bringing in best practices throughout all aspects of the RCB's cricketing pathway".

Also, the former New Zealand coach will work closely with the Kohli and Katich on all cricketing issues. "This is a new position created within the franchise. Mike Hesson brings with him strong cricketing experience of being head coach and mentor to the New Zealand team with a focus on T20 and has earned an international reputation as a leader who achieves results without sacrificing on culture," the statement, released by RCB, said.

"Simon Katich as head coach will inculcate the high-performance culture in the team. Simon has strong credentials in T20 cricket format as a head coach and captain who has won multiple championships."

It needs to be noted here that both Hesson and Katich had left their previous stints with Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders. It remains to be seen whether this move bears fruits with Royal Challengers Bangalore.