Days after announcing Kieron Pollard as head coach, Mumbai Indians sprang a surprise by naming former India batter and two-time IPL winner Robin Uthappa as batting coach for IPL 2027.
MI have also roped in Mitchell McClenaghan as bowling coach, T. Dilip as fielding coach, and Dhawal Kulkarni as development bowling coach in the new-look support staff set-up.
The focus now turns to the captaincy and the expected trade of Hardik Pandya. There is talk that Mumbai Indians could hand back the captaincy to Rohit Sharma after going without a trophy for six seasons though Tilak Varma is also tipped to take over the hot seat.
“I am just genuinely happy to be back. I started my IPL career with Mumbai Indians and I start my IPL coaching career with Mumbai Indians, which seems like destiny to me,” Uthappa was quoted as saying in a media release.
“I’ve seen Mumbai go through earning the trust and the faith of the fans, to becoming champions, and then winning consistently and becoming one of the best franchises in the world, from a winning perspective. And today, we find ourselves back in that similar situation right now where the trust of the fans need to be earned again.”