The scramble to replace Brendon McCullum as England’s Test coach has produced one overwhelming favourite. Andy Flower, the most successful England coach of the modern era, has been backed by everyone from Nasser Hussain to Michael Vaughan to return and repair a side in freefall.
There remains one considerable obstacle, and it sits some 5,000 miles away in Bengaluru. Flower is contracted to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, whom he has guided to back-to-back IPL titles, and prising him away may prove far harder than English cricket hopes.
Dinesh Karthik, who worked alongside Flower during RCB’s title-winning 2026 campaign, has now offered an insider’s verdict on the likelihood of that move. Speaking on Sky Sports, the former India wicketkeeper was complimentary about the man but sceptical about the outcome.
Karthik left no doubt about Flower’s suitability for the role, even as he questioned whether the appointment is realistically achievable given the coach’s existing workload across the franchise circuit.
“In all seriousness, I think he’ll be a great candidate,” Karthik told Sky Sports. “He definitely should be one of the names thought of, but I would be very surprised if he took it, considering where England are and his packed schedule as well.”
The former India batter pointed directly to the contractual complication, noting that Flower has already committed to RCB and that fulfilling both roles would inevitably mean missing England fixtures at inconvenient moments.
“With Andy Flower, with an already pre-signed contract with RCB, which would mean that he would miss parts of all those Tests,” Karthik said. “Will it be okay for England in the preparation for the Ashes if they don’t have a coach for a Test match or two?”
He also flagged a specific scheduling clash on the horizon, one that would arrive at precisely the wrong moment for a coach attempting to rebuild a Test side ahead of a home Ashes. “I heard there’s a Test match against Bangladesh in May next year, and if Andy Flower is doing RCB, that could be a challenge as well,” he added.
Karthik expressed scepticism about reports suggesting the ECB would accommodate Flower’s IPL work, arguing English cricket has already demonstrated its discomfort with players prioritising franchise commitments over the national side.
“I read an article which said that England will be happy to accommodate IPL and then the rest of Test cricket, but with the schedule being the way it is,” Karthik said. “When Jacob Bethell didn’t come in for the first Test, Jofra Archer not being available, it kicked up a fuss, and there were plenty of people saying, ‘Why? How come one of the players is not there?'”
