Zubin Bharucha joins Mumbai Indians as Director of Performance

Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians have appointed Zubin Bharucha as the franchise's Director of Performance.

The 56-year-old former first class cricketer worked as team director with Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2015 until the team's two-year suspension. He then took over as the franchise's Director of Cricket Operations from 2018 to 2026 after a short stint with Delhi Daredevils.

In his role with the Royals, Bharucha was credited with helping develop several young breakout Indian stars including Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and most recently Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. A media release from Mumbai Indians stated that he will "work closely with the existing multi-disciplinary leadership group across all performance disciplines within the MI ecosystem."

Bharucha will work alongside head coach Mahela Jayawardene and his team of coaches and will be tasked with ending the franchise's IPL trophy drought.

Mumbai Indians, one of the two teams to have won the IPL five times, haven't won since the 2020 season and have qualified for the playoffs just twice since, a barren run that also includes two wooden spoon and one ninth place finish.