Andy Flower in talks with Rajasthan Royals for head coach position in IPL 2024

After parting ways with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), former Zimbabwe cricketer Andy Flower has been in talks with Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the position of head coach ahead of IPL 2024. Notably, the inaugural IPL champions are keen to include Flower in their set-up, while Kumar Sangakkara is likely to retain his position as the Director of Cricket. Sangakkara expressed his desire to appoint Flower as the head coach.

Notably, for over a decade, Flower has been serving as the coach for different teams and franchises. In 2011, England were at the top of the Test rankings under his stint. He was the director of the England Cricket team when they won the Ashes in 2009 followed by their first T20 World Cup in 2010. The 55-year-old also had a great outing in IPL for LSG, where the UP-based franchise finished in the top four under his stint in 2022 and 2023.

On the other hand, the inclusion of Flower will not affect Sangakkara’s position as the Director who has been a part of the franchise since 2021. In his first season, RR finished seventh in the points table but ended up being the runners-up in the next season in 2022. RR also started well in 2023, but failed to continue their good show and narrowly missed out on the playoffs by finishing fifth in the points table.

RCB and SRH also looking for new coaching staff

Meanwhile, there are also other franchises that will be keen to include Flower in their coaching staff. Notably, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)are also looking for new coaches and Flower is likely to be on their radar. RCB are looking for fresh faces in their set-up after they decided to part ways with Sanjay Bangar and Mike Hesson after they could not find success under them.

Meanwhile, the 2016 Champions, SRH finished at the bottom of the points table in IPL 2023 and will be keen to regain their identity in the next season. The Hyderabad-based franchise looked like one of the strongest sides on the papers with some big names but failed to live up to the expectations even with the West Indian legend, Brian Lara at the helm.