The 56-year-old former first-class cricketer Zubin Bharucha has been appointed as the Director of Performance for the Mumbai Indians franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Bharucha will work alongside the MI support staff.
Bharucha worked as team director with Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2015. He was later appointed as the RR franchise’s Director of Cricket Operations from 2018 to 2026 after a short stint with Delhi Daredevils (DD).
“Zubin Bharucha joins Mumbai Indians as Director of Performance and will work closely with the existing multi-disciplinary leadership group across all performance disciplines within the MI ecosystem,” the MI official statement read.
“Zubin 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,” it further added.
Mumbai Indians ended the IPL 2026 season in ninth place despite boasting some of the biggest names. The team’s poor performance was attributed to skipper Hardik Pandya, who is not expected to continue with the franchise.
“Hardik Pandya had no direct conversation with any franchise whatsoever regarding a transfer trade, or otherwise. If any approach has been made to him, that has been directed to the MI franchise,” Pandya’s spokesperson told The Indian Express.
On the other hand, the Gujarat Titans were keen to have Hardik in their franchise. However, they don’t want to have the veteran all-rounder as their skipper, with Shubman Gill being their skipper for a long period.
“The franchise was fine with him making a return. They had even discussed the same with its captain Shubman Gill, and he, too, had agreed that the franchise could trade him back. But when his condition of captaincy was put up, everyone said no to it,” said a source.
