RCB review contracts of Hesson, Bangar; franchise may part ways with coaches
Bengaluru, Jul 16: Royal Challengers Bangalore may affect a revamp in their coaching staff as the franchise is reviewing the contract of director of cricket operations Mike Hesson and head coach Sanjay Bangar.
In general, the IPL coaching staff contracts are up for renewal in September, and the RCB indicated that their performance will be closely deliberated before arriving at a decision.
"Their contract with RCB is still intact. The team is still under the process of review. We will come back if any announcement is made," the franchise said in a statement.
Bangar and Hesson were not immediately available for reaction about the status of their contract with the RCB.
Hesson joined the Royal Challengers in 2019 after the club ended up beneath the pile that season. Bangar was promoted as head coach ahead of IPL 2022 after Simon Katich decided to part ways with the club for personal reasons.
Even though RCB could not land an IPL title, they had a good run during the tenure of Hesson first as coach and then as the director of cricket operations.
In his first season in charge in 2020, Hesson guided RCB to fourth in the league stage but they lost the Eliminator to the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In the IPL 2021, RCB finished third in the table but once again lost the Eliminator, this time to Kolkata Knight Riders.
In the following IPL, RCB were fourth in the league table but lost Qualifier 2 to Rajasthan Royals. However, they failed to enter the playoffs during the IPL 2023.
Hesson was also in charge of Royal Challengers Bangalore women team during the inaugural Women's Premier League. The Smriti Mandhana-led RCB finished fourth in the five-team league.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
