Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday appointed a new Director of Cricket for IPL, the team announced on social media. The franchise has appointed England men's performance director Mo Bobat into the role that was earlier held by Mike Hesson. Bobat is set to leave his position at the ECB early next year.
"RCB appoints Mo Bobat as the Director of Cricket for IPL. Bobat has served England Cricket as their Performance Director since 2019, and has been a part of the ECB set-up for 12 years, during which England lifted the T20I and ODI World Cups. Bobat has also worked very closely with Andy Flower during his coaching tenure with England," RCB wrote in its Twitter post.
Bobat has worked with England for 12 years. He joined the England men's U-19 programme in 2011 before being handed the role of ECB's first Player Identification Lead five years later in 2016. He was named as England's performance director in 2019 and will step down from the post early next year. "I've had the most amazing 12 years at the ECB and it's been both an honour and a privilege to have spent the last four years as Performance Director. Supporting our efforts towards multiple Ashes campaigns and World Cups has quite literally been the stuff of dreams," Bobat said after the appointment.
"I'll be forever grateful for all of the opportunities and support that I received over the years and will carry with me many special memories, shared achievements and friendships. I'd like to thank all of my current and former colleagues, and of course all of the players that I've been able to enjoy time with. I'd specifically like to thank Rob Key for showing me so much trust over the last 18 months and for enabling my preferred transition towards my new professional challenge," he added.
