MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians have named South African legend Mark Boucher as their head coach starting with IPL 2023. The South African was the frontrunner for the position after new roles were given to Zaheer Khan and Mahela Jayawardene.
The club recently revamped its current coaching setup, which was followed by the hiring of additional support staff. Zaheer Khan, who served as the director of cricket operations up until last season, has been promoted to the position of global head of cricket development, replacing Mahela Jayawardene, who has been the head coach of the Mumbai Indians since 2017.
Both will be involved with the group’s three teams. One of Jayawardene’s responsibilities is to supervise the coaching staff at each of the three franchises.
Mark Boucher has had a long and illustrious career as a wicket-keeper and batsman and holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper. Post retirement, he took over as coach for Titans, a top-level cricket franchise in South Africa, and led them to five domestic titles. In 2019, Cricket South Africa appointed Mark Boucher as the head coach where he crafted 11 Test wins, 12 in ODIs, and 23 T20I victories.
“It’s a pleasure to welcome Mark Boucher to Mumbai Indians. With his proven expertise on the field and off it as a coach, guiding his team to numerous victories, Mark will add immense value to MI and take forward its legacy,” said Akash M Ambani, chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm.
“It is an honor and privilege to be appointed as head coach of MI. Their history and achievements as a franchise clearly put them up there as one of the most successful sporting franchises in all of the world sports. I look forward to the challenge and respect the need for results. It’s a strong unit with great leadership and players. I look forward to adding value to this dynamic unit,” said Mark Boucher.
With this announcement, speculations about the vacant position of the Mumbai Indians head coach position have been put to rest.
Boucher abruptly resigned as South Africa’s head coach on Monday, effective after South Africa’s participation in the next T20 World Cup in Australia, causing a stir. South Africa had just lost a Test series in England by a score of 2-1. Boucher wants to “pursue other interests and opportunities,” CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki said at the time.
Boucher served as the wicketkeeping coach for the Knight Riders for the 2016 IPL, despite the fact that he did not have much experience coaching in the T20 franchise circuit. He has previously played for both the Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers. After that, he took over as head coach of Titans in the domestic South African league before taking over as coach of the South African men’s national team. (ANI)