IPL 2023: Mahela Jayawardena and Zaheer Khan have been respected members of the Mumbai Indians family. With MI expanding its teams to other cricket leagues, the duo has been given wider roles. The Sri Lankan is the global head of performance. The Indian is head of cricket development. With this, Mumbai Indians are also expected to announce the new head coach for their IPL franchise. Jayardena has been with the team since 2017 as their head coach. Follow IPL 2023 live updates with InsideSport.IN
Mumbai Indians have grown further with teams in the ILT20 (MI Emirates) and the SA20 (MI Cape Town) . Both the leagues are set for their respective maiden season. It will be played in UAE and South Africa.
🚨 Head Coach ➡️ Global Head of Performance 🌏
We are delighted to announce Mahela Jayawardene as our Global Head of Performance 🙌💙#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MIemirates #MIcapetown @MIEmirates @MICapeTown @MahelaJay pic.twitter.com/I4wobGDkOQ
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) September 14, 2022
This new role means Mumbai Indians will have to find a new coach for their IPL side. As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, the new coach could be announced soon as well.
As far as the roles of Jayardena and Zaheer are concerned, it is new to them. Jayardena will be a busy man in his new role, looking after different teams on the franchise. He is set to look after the entire coaching, staff, players recruitment, strategic planning among others.
More important, he will be primarily responsible to ensure that all the teams across different leagues meet success.
“It is an absolute honour for me to lead MI’s global cricket operations. Mrs. Ambani and Akash’s leadership and guidance have made MI the most valued global cricket franchise and I am very happy to see MI grow globally. I look forward to this new responsibility to build a strong cohesive global brand of cricket,” Jayawardene said in a statement.
As for Zaheer, his role will be looking after player development, and also identifying talent from across different nations. The former India pacer was part of the team during his playing days as well.
“I am humbled to take on this new role and thank Mrs. Nita Ambani and Akash for their faith in me. MI has been home for me as a player and as a coaching team member, and now as we embark on a new journey, I look ahead to working closely with all the stakeholders in the global network to unearth new potential that can join the family,” Zaheer said.
