Five-time Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians announced the appointment of former South African cricketer Mark Boucher as their head coach on Friday.
Boucher, who holds the record for most dismissals as a wicketkeeper in Test cricket, replaced Mahela Jayawardene as MI head coach, with the former Sri Lanka captain taking on a global role for the franchise along with former India pacer Zaheer Khan.
“It is an honor and privilege to be appointed as head coach of MI,” Boucher was quoted as saying in a statement put out by the franchise.
“Their history and achievements as a franchise clearly put them up there as one of the most successful sporting franchises in all of world sport. 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.”
MI owner Akash Ambani added: “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.”
Boucher had taken over the role of head coach of the South African men’s cricket team in 2019, with the team going on to win 11 Tests, 12 ODIs and 23 T20Is during his tenure.
With the MI franchise expanding into the Emirates T20 league as well as South Africa’s T20 league, Shane Bond has been appointed as the Head Coach for MI Emirates, in addition to his current role as bowling coach of Mumbai Indians. The coaching team includes current Mumbai Indians talent scouts, Parthiv Patel and Vinay Kumar who will debut as coaches – Parthiv Patel as Batting Coach, Vinay Kumar as Bowling coach and former MI all-rounder James Franklin as fielding coach.
In addition, Robin Singh, will be General Manager of Cricket for MI Emirates.
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