"I got a few goosebumps" - Mike Hesson thrilled over Rajat Patidar's elevation to RCB captaincy [Exclusive]

Expectations hit fever pitch whenever the Indian Premier League (IPL) swings into town. Just multiply that by a decent factor though and that's the level of expectation fans have of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

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One man who has paid witness to that is Mike Hesson, the former Director of Cricket of the franchise who took charge from 2020 until 2023. It was a tenure under which RCB experienced levels of consistency seldom associated with the team prior to it, making the playoffs in the first three years before narrowly missing out in IPL 2023.

While Hesson and RCB have since parted ways, it was a fruitful association that began a year after the former Black Caps coach had his first taste of the IPL with the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). They came within touching distance of making the playoffs in 2019 and while it wasn't to be, Hesson soon moved onto a project that's spoken about a whole lot more.

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The IPL was a far different experience, of course, after years of helming an international setup. Hesson detailed it all in a recent, freewheeling chat with Sportskeeda.

"Look, it was very different from international cricket," Hesson says of the IPL. "I guess I was very lucky because in my six years with the Blackcaps, I came across so many international players. Because you’re there for that period of time, you’re playing more events, bilateral tours - you meet and get to know a lot of players and you start to have at least the start of a relationship built. So I was fortunate enough going into the IPL because it wasn’t from scratch. We’ve played against India a huge amount both home and away, all three formats, so you get to know a broad spectrum of players. I've always enjoyed the culture of cricket in India, I’ve always enjoyed every time I went on a tour. I’ve always loved the passion that the Indian public showed and in the IPL it’s ramped up even more than that."

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In his own words though, his first experience with the Kings was an eye-opener given that there was a sense of disorientation about the setup.

"Kings XI was a bit of an eye opener. Private ownership, lots of different owners, lots of different views and coming from a situation where you’ve got a board and I guess you get a collective response or direction it’s very different. So I found that challenging. I really enjoyed the playing group. We were pretty much one win away from being in the playoffs and we made some pretty good progress with that team. But I didn’t really enjoy having so many masters. You can get pushed and pulled in lots of different directions and I didn’t enjoy that. I didn’t feel that that was particularly helpful to help and grow a team so I was pretty happy to move on from that," says Hesson.

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He was effusive in his praise, however, for the RCB ecosystem and the structure behind how they functioned.

It’s a professional organization run from a business perspective so there are a huge amount of checks and balances and making sure everything’s done properly which I liked. I like a bit of structure. We put a huge amount of planning into it and we were able to follow through and execute those plans. I enjoyed that process. I was in a very different role - I was Director of Cricket there rather than head coach although I did step up as head coach at one stage.

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"It’s different because your job is more the conjunction between the owners and the coaching staff and the playing group. I really enjoyed that - it’s kind of what you did as head coach of New Zealand anyway. You’re actually across the whole part of the business anyway, not just head coach on playing days. I enjoyed that, I enjoyed the tactical side of things and the strategy around auctions and trades and actually working through mock auctions and so forth, building software to be able to make sure you’re really well-prepared for the auction and then I guess holding your nerve when you’re there trying to buy players," says Hesson.

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While Hesson acknowledged that there were going to be plenty of different viewpoints as with any setup, the aim was to align to a strategy and stick with it.

"Whenever you’ve got ten teams or eight teams in some instances trying to buy the best players, you don’t always get all the ones you want. But we got a lot of things right, we got some wrong as well but we also had a heck of a lot of consistency at RCB which was a big turnaround from the two years before I arrived. I really enjoyed my time at RCB. I spent four seasons there and I think we made some really good progress," says Hesson.

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"Every single day, he would still bring that same intensity" - Mike Hesson opens up on teaming up with Virat Kohli

Think RCB, and Virat Kohli is the first name that pops up for it's as synonymous a franchise-player relationship as any the IPL has witnessed.

For the first half of Hesson's time at RCB, Kohli was the captain of the side. How was it like combining forces with a name that courts scrutiny for almost every single action of his?

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"I think when you don’t work with Virat, you have a perception of what you think he’s going to be like and it’s very different in reality," says Hesson. "Because he’s got that competitive nature and he gets on the other side of the white line when you’re playing against him he’s in your face and all those things, you think that’s the type of character he is but he’s far from that.

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"I find Virat very engaging, very good with the younger players in terms of willing to share his time. From a captaincy point of view, he was quite instinctive. I think that’s fair, a very instinctive kind of leader. He had strong views on the game but was also very willing to listen to others and their views. But when he made his decision, we would back him. And I think that’s what you have to do - you have discussions off the field and on the field you’ve got to trust your instincts and Virat certainly had great instincts around the game," says Hesson.

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Hesson's admiration for Kohli's work ethic and intensity was unmissable - particularly considering that a good part of his time with the franchise coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing the game into a tailspin with fresh challenges.

Mike Hesson worked closely with Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis during his RCB stint (Credits: BCCI).

One of them, of course, was playing behind closed doors. Yet, for someone who seems to derive a lot of energy from the crowd getting right behind him, it did not stop Kohli from turning up with the same intensity in Hesson's eyes.

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"I think a player of Virat Kohli’s quality and the type of player he is, not having crowds and that real intensity, it’s really hard to get up for it," says Hesson. "For a lot of players it was really tough to build that same energy and intensity when you’ve got a full stadium as opposed to when you’ve got no one. But the thing with Virat is every single day, he would still bring that real intensity. And that’s something you just don’t see from others. I mean you see it day to day but you don’t see it everyday and that to me is the difference between Virat Kohli’s class and that longevity that he’s had because off the field he does his work, does his prep but he’s very much cool and calm and collected, really intelligent guy you have a broad range of discussions with. But once you get on the other side of the white line, the competitive nature sticks in. I really enjoyed that side of Virat."

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Kohli dropped a bombshell just as the second leg of IPL 2021 - which was shifted to the UAE owing to the impact of the pandemic - began, announcing his decision to stand down as RCB skipper by the end of the season. This was shortly after relinquishing his international captaincy duties from the shortest format. He would soon be replaced as ODI skipper too.

Hesson reckoned that the timing of him passing on the baton at RCB was ideal though for multiple reasons.

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"Once he lost the captaincy from India’s perspective, I think it was the right time for him to say ‘Hey, I want to back off and just enjoy my cricket as a player now’. Because he gave absolutely everything to India and RCB when he was captain for so long. That does suck the energy out of you from that perspective and I think Virat made the call. He still wants to bring that energy but as a player.

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"I think it was the right time for him. He didn’t often have to attend too many meetings, he could do other things at the time. He was starting to have a family as well so different priorities take over and the priority of being the leader of the batting lineup and still being one of the key leaders on the park was a shift for him," says Hesson.

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Hesson believes that letting go of the captaincy role freed Kohli up mentally to enjoy his cricket again.

"We saw that the last year I was there (2023) where he actually came out, opened the batting and just sprayed it pretty much to all parts. He really took the game on and you can only do that if you’re quite free in the mind. And we saw that again last year as well where he was particularly good at the top of the order," states Hesson.

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"He's just a really good young man" - Mike Hesson on newly-appointed RCB skipper Rajat Patidar

From Kohli to Faf du Plessis and now, Rajat Patidar. That's been RCB's captaincy transition in the last few years with the Madhya Pradesh dasher, who was retained ahead of the mega auction, handed the job.

Hesson and his team of scouts were amongst the first to identify his batting talent when they pocketed him at his base price of ₹ 20 lakh at the IPL 2021 auction.

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A special message from Hesson followed on social media after Patidar was announced as the captain in February, congratulating him for the same.

"I got a few goosebumps actually when Rajat was appointed," says Hesson when asked about that post. "I was really proud because he’s a quality young man. He’s had some pretty tough times. Cricket wise when he was absolutely at the peak of his powers - he scored that hundred against LSG in the Eliminator and then scored 58 against Rajasthan in the Qualifier - he was absolutely flying and then he got an Achilles injury. Basically he was out for a year. There was a lot of time where we would push and pull, there were a lot of discussions in terms of can we get him back for that year, can he be fit."

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Stating that RCB certainly missed Patidar in 2023, Hesson mentioned that he was always confident that he would repay the faithful given his prowess as a player. Before Patidar would return to don the red and blue of RCB again, he had a crack at Test cricket with a solid first-class season earning him a callup to play England. It didn't go according to plan though as he mustered just 63 runs in six innings.

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"I think his best format to be fair are the shorter formats," says Hesson. "I know his first-class record is exceptional but he has explosive power from a stable base which is just unheard of really for a man of that stature. And he can short-arm pull off the genuine quicks into the stands. He’s a proper player and just a really laid back sort of character."

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Elaborating further on Patidar being a laid-back character, Hesson made a very interesting comparison with a current international captain.

"I align him a little bit with someone like Mitchell Santner who we call flatline because you don’t see him fluctuate too much. Rajat’s similar - when he’s not batting in the nets, he’s standing at the back watching others bat, just shadow batting. You go and ask him a question, he’s very alert and very aware of what’s happening around him but he just does it in a very calm manner. And he’s just a really good young man. I know he’s done some captaincy with Madhya Pradesh and I think he’s ready for it. I’m delighted he got it rather than somebody who was bought at the auction or somebody who wasn’t really keen to do it. I’m delighted that he was offered it and I’m delighted he took it," says Hesson.

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For someone who is arguably the first non-superstar captain that RCB have had, it is a huge responsibility that has come Patidar's way.

"I think the challenge will be blocking out a lot of the distractions," says Hesson. "I think Rajat does that very well from a batting perspective - he’s able to keep himself in the loop - but when you’re captain of such a big franchise you can get taken off in different directions whether it be, promotional work, selection, particular players having a tough time and you’ve got a role to play in getting them out of it. It’s just making sure that he’s really - I talk about being authentic…Rajat’s got his own style and I just hope that he’s able to keep that rather than modifying his own values to satisfy people. I think it’s really important he backs himself, his strengths and beliefs and if he does that he’ll have a great time."

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RCB's strategies at the player auction in Jeddah last November drew mixed reactions from fans and experts alike. There was a big development prior to it though as they offloaded Mohammed Siraj, an all-format Indian pacer at the time, from their roster and did not attempt to reacquire him at the auction.

Was that a mistake on the part of the think-tank?

"I think they made a decision before the auction that Siraj wasn’t the one they wanted to go with," opines Hesson. "That’s the prerogative I guess of the coaching group. I was a big fan of (Glenn) Maxwell and Siraj. Different coaches in different groups have better relationships with certain people and I guess that’s just quite natural and you do gravitate towards people you get to know well and get to know what makes them tick. Those are two players that have a very special skill set."

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Hesson did throw his weight behind Siraj, who led RCB's pace attack pretty well for a good few years despite having to bowl a lot at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium - a venue that's often heavily skewed in favor of batters.

"Siraj has probably suffered from the fact that he has to bowl a lot at Chinnaswamy. People sort of remember the time he goes around the park without understanding that pretty much most of the bowlers who come to Chinnaswamy only have to do it once a year and they go around the park too. I think Siraj is a high-quality bowler. I think he’s getting towards the peak of his powers as well from understanding his own game and method. But as I said it’s the prerogative of the new group to head in a direction that they think works," says Hesson.

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Rating RCB's chances ahead of IPL 2025, Hesson believes that the way their bowlers come to terms with the home conditions will go a long way as it always has.

"I thought halfway through the auction RCB missed a few things but by the end of it, they pulled together a really competitive squad and I’m sure they will be very competitive come playoff time. The challenge with any team that has to play at Chinnaswamy is the bowling attack. I don’t have an issue with the batting lineup at all, I think there’s plenty of power and skill. The challenge that I have is having enough bowlers with good defensive options at Chinnaswamy. That’s always a challenge and that will be the litmus test really to see how far RCB go," says Hesson.

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What happens over the course of the next couple of months is something time will bear an answer to as RCB's quest for that elusive title commences again. In the eyes of their former Director of Cricket though, they are in good hands from a leadership perspective even as a stern test awaits Patidar and Co.

Also read: "I don't believe you can be a coach that has one style" - Mike Hesson, a man of multiple hats with a unique coaching voyage [Exclusive]

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