Andy Flower has been named the head coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the next edition of the Indian Premier League.

Flower is currently the head coach of three franchise teams – Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League, St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League, along with the RCB in the IPL. In the IPL, he previously coached the Lucknow Super Giants.

Flower’s achievements as a coach:

England:

The Zimbabwe player was first appointed as the assistant coach of the England national team in May 2007, with his first assignment being the Windies’ tour of England. Two years later, he was named the full-time director of the men’s national side.

Under him, England won the Ashes 2-1 in 2009 and retained the urn in 2010/11 when they won the series Down Under 3-1. England have not won the Ashes in Australia since then. He also led England to the Ashes win in July 2013, with the team winning 3-0.

His biggest white-ball accomplishment was leading the team to the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 title in the West Indies, which was also England’s first world title in any format.

Flower was also at the helm when England defeated India 2-1 in the 2012/13 Test series in Asia. He also guided England to the No.1 ranking in 2011 in the format.

Flower had a few blips as England coach, defeated 3-0 in the UAE by Pakistan, losing 2-1 to South Africa at home, with the lowest point a 5-0 drubbing in the 2013/14 Ashes, following which he resigned from the role.

He was also the head coach of the England Lions team from 2014 to 2019.

He was the batting consultant of the Australia team that retained the recent Ashes in England.

Franchise leagues:

In 2016, Flower was appointed the batting coach of Peshawar Zalmi in the first season. The side finished on top of the league standings, but could not make the final.

He was named the head coach of Multan Sultans in 2020. Under his helm, the franchise qualified for their first-ever playoffs in five seasons after finishing first in the league stages. However, the side could not win the title. They won the trophy under Flower in 2021, and have been the runners-up in the last two seasons.

That year, he was also appointed the head coach of St Lucia Zouks and guided the franchise to their first-ever final in the Caribbean Premier League. Zouks made the final in 2021 as well, but lost to the Patriots in the commit clash.

Flower was also associated with the Punjab Kings in IPL 2020 and 2021 before moving to Lucknow Super Giants in 2022. He led the new IPL team to the playoffs in each of his two years of association.

Flower has also won trophies in the ILT20, The Hundred and the T10. He was named the head coach of Gulf Giants in the UAE-based leagues and took them to the title in 2023.

In 2022, he guided Trent Rockets to the trophy in The Hundred, after taking charge a year earlier. He has also won the Abu Dhabi T10 trophy in 2019, where he was in charge of the Maratha Arabians.

What’s next at RCB for Andy Flower?

Flower comes into RCB with the reputation of being a coach that turns dust into gold. He takes over Mike Hesson, who had taken the team into the playoffs in 2021 and 2022, before narrowly missing out this year. However, expecting Flower to magically overturn the fortunes of a team that has been perennial underperformers will be a tall task.

That RCB have never won the IPL title is no secret but the issues run deeper. For too long, the franchise has relied on marketing their team as a high-brand, rich-in-star-power club, which has paid its dividends off the field. RCB continue to have a strong social media presence with their loyal fans making it the third-richest team in the IPL. Virat Kohli continues to be the face of RCB despite moving on from captaincy two years ago and remains the top attraction in every game.

They continue to disappoint on the field, however, with pertinent questions season after season. RCB have relied on stacking their batting unit with big overseas names, which often leaves little resources to stock up the bowling attack. The middle order continues to live in the shadows of a heavy top-order, and at the Chinnaswamy, where no target is too steep, the lop-sided balance of the squad comes to bite the team.

Flower is no magician but he has proven he is a man with a Midas touch. Can he weave his spell on a team that refuses to break away from the curse that was set upon them in 2008?