Mumbai Indians confirm Mark Boucher as head coach

Mumbai Indians have appointed former South Africa wicketkeeper-batter as their new head coach, the franchise confirmed on Friday (September 16). The 45-year-old replaces Mahela Jayawardene and will start his stint from the next edition of the Indian Premier League.

On Wednesday, Mumbai Indians Group announced the promotion of Jayawardene to the role of head of global performance. 

Boucher is currently the head coach of South Africa but will leave the post after the T20 World Cup in Australia. CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki said Boucher made the decision because he wanted to pursue "other interests and opportunities".

"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 world sport," said Boucher.

"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."

Also read: How Jayawardene took Mumbai Indians from 'good' to 'great'

Boucher, who has the most dismissals (555) by a keeper in cricket history, had previously worked as Kolkata Knight Riders' wicket-keeping coach in 2016. 

"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 Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Besides Jayawardene's appointment in a global role, MI also promoted Zaheer Khan as the director of cricket operations for their three franchises in IPL, SA20, and UAE's ILT20. 

On Thursday, the franchise announced the appointment of Australian Simon Katich as the head coach of their SA20 team MI Cape Town. Meanwhile, former South Africa batter Hashim Amla has been appointed as the batting coach.

No other IPL franchise has won more titles than Mumbai (5), but they have failed to qualify for the playoffs on the last two occasions. In IPL 2022, Mumbai finished with the wooden spoon for the first time in their history.