Mumbai Indians news: Mahela Jayawardene has been promoted to global head of performance for the Mumbai Indians. In his new role, Jayawardene will be in charge of coaching and scouting for the franchise owners’ three teams: Mumbai Indians in the IPL, MI Emirates in the ILT20, and MI Cape Town in the SA20. Zaheer Khan, who was previously the director of cricket operations, is now the three teams’ worldwide head of cricket development.

As for Zaheer, he would 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 franchise will soon reveal the new head coach for the IPL team, a position Jayawardene has held since the 2017 season, managing three title wins.

The organization stated in a statement that the team management recognized the necessity for a central team at the head of affairs due to the company’s expansion to “ensure consistency […] on ethos, values, and learning, that have made MI one of the most loved cricket brands across the globe”.

Jayawardene has already begun work in his new capacity and was involved in the discussions that resulted in Mark Boucher being appointed as head coach of MI Cape Town. In August, Jayawardene was also involved in the process of identifying the five direct acquisitions for the SA20 team. He will also sit with Boucher during the SA20 player auction on September 19 in Cape Town.

The statement elaborated on the tasks and responsibilities of the two guys who will be at the head of the backroom staff, saying that Jayawardene would be involved with “overall strategic planning, the creation of an integrated global high-performance eco-system, as well as 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 MI.”

Following the purchase of the two new franchises by the owners of the Mumbai Indians, the main roles in the coaching staff were streamlined.