RCB announce Gary Kirsten as coach and mentor

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have announced former South African opener Gary Kirsten as their coach and mentor.

Kirsten replaces New Zealand's Daniel Vettori, who took over the coaching from Ray Jennings in 2014. The South African was the batting coach of the IPL franchise last year.

Speaking about his move out of the RCB camp, Vettori, who was the captain of the franchise before Virat Kohli took over, said that he was grateful for having spent a long time with the Challengers in a conversation with IANS.

"I am extremely grateful for the eight years I have spent with RCB, as a player and a coach and I wish the franchise all the best moving forward.

"I had the privilege of coaching with the RCB team last season under head coach Vettori and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I look forward to continuing the journey with RCB and doing my best to help the franchise reach its potential.

"I want to thank the team management for considering me in a leadership position with the franchise and I look forward to a successful few years," he added.

The Bangalore-based franchise, one of the original teams who have been playing from the 2008 edition, haven't won the title yet, but have been the runners-up thrice, in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Kirsten was the coach of the Indian team from 2008 until 2011, helping them win the World Cup for the first in 28 years. After his stint with the Men in Blue, Kirsten went back to his country and coached the South African side, from June 2011 to 2013, before taking a sabbatical from coaching.

Playing under Virat Kohli, the RCB side had a poor IPL this year, finishing sixth out of eight in the group stage. In 2017, the side finished last in the points table.