Mahela steps down as Mumbai Indians head coach to take on new role

Mahela Jayawardene has resigned as the head coach of Mumbai Indians (MI) to take on a new role in the franchise team with the aim of building a global cricket legacy for them.

In a statement, Mumbai Indian ownership said, “with the expansion of MI #OneFamily which now includes MI Emirates and MI Cape Town along with Mumbai Indians, the team management recognized the need for a central team.”

Thereby, Jayawardene has been elevated to the position of Global Head of Performance of the franchise team.

He is tasked with providing senior leadership of the group’s cricket operations worldwide including overall strategic planning, creating an integrated global high-performance eco-system as well as a responsibility for each team’s coaching and support structures, working closely with the team head coaches to ensure synergies, a consistent brand of cricket and implementation of best practices set by Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan has been appointed as the Global Head of Cricket Development of Mumbai Indians and will be responsible for player development, building on MI’s robust program around talent identification and grooming and adopting the same across geographies, which has been core to MI’s philosophy and success, the statement read further.

Each geography comes with its unique set of challenges and Zaheer’s elevated role will play an important role helping MI teams across the globe, it continued.

Speaking on the new role, Jayawardene said, “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.”