I deal a lot with the captain and the coach: Mike Hesson

A few months after the IPL 2019 season, a significant overhaul took place in the coaching staff of RCB. Mike Hesson was appointed the Director of Cricket Operations. 

During ‘Bold Diaries’ an exclusive show on RCB’s digital channels, Mike Hesson, talked about his role in the team and how the support staff is working to bring out the best among players.

"It is the in to in business of cricket. Your sports science department, scouting department. Obviously, Simon (Katich) looks after the cricket side of the coach, the strength and physio, etc and I am looking after all of that," Mike Hesson said.

The former Kiwi coach explained that one of his key responsibilities in the franchise is to work closely with the captain and coach.

"I deal a lot with the captain and the coach. Three of us have done a heck of a work to make sure we are aligned and make sure we are hieading in a direction we want RCB to follow," he added.

The management believes mental health to be one of the essential things to be addressed in these difficult times.  RCB recruited Dr Chaitanya Sridhar, a Sports Psychologist, who has also travelled with the squad to UAE for IPL 2020.

"I have been involved with more international teams and its something that we felt that was really important to have access to sports psychologists. When you look at the IPL and the pressure that players are under, day to day, it makes sense that we provide mental support. We looked into it right from the start," he said.

"If RCB wants to have the best support staff as a franchise available, what are we missing? And we felt we were missing the consistency of a medical doctor and from a sports science point of view, we had a gap there," the 45-year-old said.
   
"We made the decision to appoint them well in advance of this IPL and also ahead of this pandemic that we are dealing with right now," he added.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore will kickstart their Dream11 IPL 2020 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on 21st of September in Dubai.