With the exception of a two-year stint with the Delhi Capitals (formerly known as the Delhi Daredevils), Zubin Bharucha, who has been connected to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) since the IPL’s start in a variety of roles, has joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) as director of performance. The 56-year-old former first-class cricket player established his reputation throughout a lengthy tenure with the Rajasthan Royals, initially as team director from 2008 to 2015, until the team’s two-year league suspension.
Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, and, most recently, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi were among the breakout players that Bharucha helped uncover during his tenure with the Royals, earning him a reputation as one of Indian cricket’s most astute scouts. Bharucha has been tasked with working with Indian players in the off-season. Throughout the year, he will assist MI assistant coach Paras Mhambrey at the team’s Mumbai headquarters and collaborate with the MI coaching staff to help players reach the necessary goals.
Cricinfo quotes the franchise’s statement saying, “[Bharucha] will work closely with the existing multi-disciplinary leadership group across all performance disciplines within the MI ecosystem. [He] will join the current support staff within MI’s highly integrated ecosystem and build on Mumbai Indians’ established approach to delivering sustained excellence in player development.”
Bharucha’s job has already begun. He and Mhambrey are now touring South Africa with a group of young players from MI. Before joining the Ranji Trophy team in 1992–93, Bharucha played age-group cricket for Mumbai (formerly Bombay).
He participated in 17 first-class matches and 11 List A matches before making his final appearance in the 1994–95 season. During trials at the Royals’ academy in Talegaon, Maharashtra, where a teenage Sooryavanshi faced off against a left-arm fast bowler from Karnataka in the nets, his instincts for spotting raw talent were on full display.
Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach, Kieron Pollard, the batting coach, and Lasith Malinga, the bowling coach, are among MI’s support staff. Although MI has won the IPL five times, they have failed to enter the playoffs in four of the last six seasons, finishing ninth and tenth on three of those occasions.
