Mo Bobat to join RCB as director of cricket

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, has appointed Mo Bobat as Director of Cricket. Bobat and RCB head coach Andy Flower had already worked together with England, and now they will seek to replicate their services at RCB as well. With RCB, Bobat will be in charge of all talent recruiting and performance plans, to lay the cultural and high-performance foundations for long-term success.

Bobat, the director of England Men's Performance, will be departing from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in February 2024 to pursue a new position. Bobat joined the ECB in 2011. For the past four years, he has been in charge of managing the England team’s route, identifying, developing, and preparing the players who make up the team’s talent pool in all formats of the game. 

During his time as Performance Director, England won both the ICC Men's World Cup (2019) and the ICC Men's T20 World Cup (2022), making them a double world champion in ICC (International Cricket Council) events. Before becoming the ECB's first Player Identification Lead, he supervised the England Men's Under-19s programme until 2016.

“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. 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," said Bobat.

“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. When the time comes, I’ll leave with the heaviest of hearts and will take pride in knowing that our international pathway is in great health and filled with outstanding people,” he added.

“We are delighted to welcome Mo Bobat as the Director of Cricket for RCB in the IPL. RCB has always focussed on a performance-oriented approach and creating a culture that reflects its ‘playbold’ philosophy. Bobat has already proved what he can do in a similar role with England, and I believe, with the expertise and years of experience, he will guide RCB to newer horizons and excellence," said Prathmesh Mishra, Chief Commercial Officer, Diageo India and Chairman of RCB.