Prior to the WPL 2023 season, Ben Sawyer has been named head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), a team in the Women’s Premier League.
In The Hundred, Sawyer is the current head coach of Birmingham Phoenix and New Zealand Women. Additionally, he oversaw the Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League as its head coach (WBBL). Mike Hesson, the RCB’s Director of Cricket Operations, said:
“Our head coach is Ben Sawyer. Ben is the current white ferns coach. He’s won three World Cups with Australia. A fast-bowling expert. He’s also won the BBL titles with Sydney Sixers. He’s made it to the finals of The Hundred as well.”
“He’s been involved in women’s cricket for over 20 years, knows the women’s game inside out, knows the players very well. He’s been thoroughly involved in our preparations leading up to the auction as well.”
The Bengaluru-based team has also appointed Vanitha VR, a former Indian cricketer, as their scouting and fielding coach in addition to RX Murali, the current head coach of the Nagaland Cricket Association. Malolan Rangarajan, a former Indian player, has been hired by RCB as both an assistant coach and head of scouting. Dr. Harini will act as both team manager and physician in the interim.
“He’s been thoroughly involved in our preparations leading up to the auction as well.” – Mike Hesson
Head Coach: Ben Sawyer
Assistant Coach and Head of Scouting: Malolan Rangarajan
Scout and Fielding Coach: Vanitha VR
Batting Coach: RX Murali
Team Manager and Team Doctor: Dr. Harini
Head Athletic Therapist: Navnita Gautam
And more… #PlayBold— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 15, 2023
In advance of the first WPL, RCB named tennis great Sania Mirza as their mentor earlier today.
While our coaching staff handle the cricket side of things, we couldn’t think of anyone better to guide our women cricketers about excelling under pressure.
Join us in welcoming the mentor of our women's team, a champion athlete and a trailblazer! 🙌
Namaskara, Sania Mirza! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/r1qlsMQGTb
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 15, 2023
Prior to the inaugural WPL season, Royal Challengers Bangalore had established a strong core. They spent Rs 3.4 crore on Smriti Mandhana, the starting batter.
Ellyse Perry (Rs 1.9 crore), Sophie Devine (Rs 50 lakh), and Heather Knight were also acquired by the franchise (Rs 40 lakh). These three players have all served as captains of their respective national teams, which are Australia, New Zealand, and England.
Australia’s Megan Schutt and Renuka Singh have also been acquired by Bangalore to head their bowling squad.
Full squad: Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Indrani Roy, Disha Kasat, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobhana, Erin Burns, Heather Knight, Dane van Niekerk, Preeti Bose, Poonam Khemnar, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Sahana Pawar.
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