News Analysis India

Tag: Simon Katich

  • Mike Hesson named RCB head coach as Simon Katich steps down

    By IANS

    BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) announced on Saturday that head coach Simon Katich has stepped down due to personal reasons. In place of him, director of cricket operations Mike Hesson will take over as head coach till the end of the season.

    “Simon Katich has decided to step down from his post as head coach and mainly due to personal reasons. We support his decision. Mike Hesson will step in and discharge the duties as head coach until the end of this tournament. Hesson has been coaching NZ team and other teams. Mike will step in until the end of the tournament,” said Rajesh Menon, vice-president and head, Royal Challengers Bangalore in the press conference.

    The franchise also said that they have signed Sri Lankan duo of Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera apart from Singapore’s Tim David as replacement players.

    Leg-spinner Hasaranga is a replacement for Australia’s Adam Zampa, who had pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons. He was impressive in the three-match T20I series against India, taking seven wickets at an economy rate of 5.58.

    Chameera replaces Zampa’s country-mate Daniel Sams, who has pulled out along with Kane Richardson. He was the second-highest wicket-taker after Hasaranga, taking four wickets at an economy rate of 5.25.

    Tim David comes in place of New Zealand’s Finn Allen, who along with fellow Kiwi Scott Kuggeleijn will be unavailable as they will be on national duty in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

    David has represented Singapore in 14 T20Is, scoring 558 runs at an average of 46.5. He amassed 279 runs at a strike-rate of 153.29 for the Hobart Hurricanes in the 2020/21 Big Bash League. He is currently in England and scored two centuries and a half-century in his last four matches in Surrey’s run to the semi-final in the Royal London One-day Cup.

    “Finn Allen and Scott Kuggeleijn have both been selected for NZ tours and they won’t be part of RCB. Kane Richardson has made himself unavailable as has Daniel Sams. So, therefore, the balance of our squad has changed dramatically,” said Hesson.

    He added, “We have made a lot of purchases which opened up four-five days ago. We’ve replaced Adam Zampa with Wanindu Hasaranga. Sri Lanka’s Dushmantha Chameera has got plenty of pace. Finn Allen leaving, we have decided to strengthen our middle-order. Tim David has joined our squad. A power-play player can become straight swap for Maxwell and de Villiers.”

  • MS Dhoni is ‘master’, we have huge respect for CSK: RCB coach Simon Katich

    By ANI
    MUMBAI:  Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Simon Katich labelled MS Dhoni as ‘master’ and said that his side has a huge amount of respect for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

    RCB and CSK will be locking horns against each other later today at the Wankhede Stadium. RCB and CSK are currently at the top two positions in the IPL points table.

    “Dhoni is a master, isn’t he? They are sitting at the top with three wins, they have had a fantastic start, they have fantastic players, we have a huge amount of respect for CSK, it is going to be great game, we have seen some great games in Mumbai already. CSK has a very damaging batting lineup but we know our bowling lineup has performed well this season,” said Katich in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.

    Pacer Kane Richardson who played his first game of the season for RCB against Rajasthan Royals also said that CSK has a fantastic batting lineup so RCB will have their task cut out.

    “It was enjoyable to finally play. It has been good watching the boys play in the first three games but it was good to finally get out there and play and be a part of the winning team. I have been rusty myself, it was great,” said Richardson.

    “It all depends on the conditions at the Wankhede. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad, are in form and they are batting well, so we will come up with some plans to stop them. They have experience throughout their team, they have won a lot of IPLs so it is going to be a really good game,” he added.

    RCB has won all their four matches and the side is at the top of the IPL table with eight points.

    On the other hand, CSK has won three games and lost one in the ongoing edition of the IPL. 

  • AB de Villiers is best in the business towards backend of an innings: RCB coach Simon Katich

    By ANI
    CHENNAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Simon Katich was all praise for AB de Villiers, saying that the Proteas star is the best in the business when it comes to batting towards the backend of an innings.

    Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers’ knocks of 78 and 76 were backed up a spirited bowling performance as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 38 runs on Sunday here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

    “Boys were magnificent today, we had a tough start but the way he fought back with that partnership between Glenn Maxwell and Devdutt Padikkal got us into a position there from where we could get the score we got. At 9/2, no one would have thought we would score above 200. Maxwell and Padikkal deserve a lot of credit for setting up the platform and then AB, that was special knock as well,” said Katich in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.

    “In terms of T20 batting, we were treated to two masterclasses from Maxwell and ABD. Young Padikkal’s innings should not go unmentioned because that partnership between him and Maxwell gave us momentum in the innings and it put pressure on KKR,” he added.

    Earlier, RCB might have been 9/2 in the second over, but Maxwell and de Villiers’ knocks of 78 and 76 ensured that the side posts a total of 204/4 in the allotted twenty overs.

    Along with Maxwell and de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal and Kyle Jamieson also played knocks of 25 and 11 respectively. For KKR, Varun Chakravarthy returned with two wickets.

    “We know that ABD is the best in the business in the backend and we have seen here in Chennai, a lot of teams have struggled at the backend and that is something we have done really well in these three games on the back of him and Maxwell. That can be the difference between winning and losing games,” said Katich.

    RCB will next take on Rajasthan Royals on Thursday here at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.