“We felt he was a brilliant human first” - RCB-W’s story of signing head coach Luke Williams

As RCB-W lifted their maiden WPL trophy, it was a ride to remember. However, there were a few changes made to the side, one of which was the head coach as Luke Williams stepped up to take over the reins of the team.

Leading the team from the sidelines, Luke ensured that no matter the consequences, the journey should be remembered. But how was he picked in the first place? Well, the latest documentary released by RCB gives us a sneak peek into what galvanized the management to go ahead and sign Luke for the role.

Rajesh Menon, the vice-president and head of RCB, said, “We wanted to relook at the support staff and when we looked at it in depth, we looked at the head coach. Hence, Luke’s name came in and we discussed what are the types of attributes that we required in the coach. The first one was that he did brilliantly well in the women's tournament and that ticked the box. The next thing that we wanted to know is what kind of human being Luke is.”

He continued, “When we connected with the other players, we all felt that he is a brilliant human being first and we felt that this is required to build a culture which is necessary to take this team to the next level. I then just picked up the call, spoke to Luke and that happened. I was travelling to London, I met Luke along with Smriti. We just teed off there, and we signed off everything there. That is the journey we started from that day and till now, you know whatever has happened.”

Luke himself said, “My first contact was with Rajesh Menon, probably the middle half of last year. As conversations continued, I guess the excitement built. As I started understanding more about the franchise and what we’re looking to achieve and felt really invested in the process that we’re about to go through.”