South Africa team coach and former cricketer Mark Boucher has been appointed as the new head coach of Mumbai Indians. He will replace Mahela Jayawardene. At the same time, Punjab Kings removed Anil Kumble as the head coach of the team and handed over this responsibility to Trevor Bayliss, who was the coach of the England team during the 2019 World Cup.
From the IPL season 2023, both will be seen in the role of head coach. Mahela Jayawardene will continue to be associated with the franchise, but he has been handed some bigger responsibilities. Due to this, he had to leave the role of head coach.
After the appointment, Boucher said, ‘I am excited about this challenge and respect the results that are expected of me. It is a strong unit with many great players and good leadership. I am looking forward to adding more value to this dynamic unit.
South Africa’s coach will not be there after T20 World Cup
Recently, after South Africa lost 2-1 in the Test series against England, Boucher announced to step down as the coach of the South Africa team after the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia.
Jayawardene had been the head coach of Mumbai since 2017
Former Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene had been the head coach of Mumbai since 2017. Now he has been given the responsibility of holding the position of Global Head of Performance. Zaheer Khan, who was the Director of Cricket Operations of Mumbai Indians till the last IPL season, has been appointed as the Global Head of Cricket Development. Both Zaheer and Jayawardene will be responsible for the three teams of this group, Mumbai Indians, MI Cape Town, and the MI Emirates.
After Zaheer and Jayawardene were given the big responsibility, the post of the head coach of Mumbai, who won the IPL trophy the most, was vacant. The front runner in the race for this position was Mark Boucher.
South Africa’s performance in coaching vouchers
In December 2019, Mark Boucher took over as head coach of the South Africa team. Under his coach, the South African team won 10 Test matches, 23 T-20, and 12 ODI matches. In the same year, the South African team defeated India 2-1 in a Test series.