With the intent to extend their cricketing footprint beyond India, the Mumbai Indians ownership has elevated Mahela Jayawardene and Zaheer Khan to take on new roles with the aim to build a global cricket legacy for the Reliance-owned cricketing brand.
This comes after Mumbai Indians purchased teams in the T20 cricketing leagues of South Africa and UAE, looking to build a global franchise. “With the expansion of Mumbai Indians ‘one family,” which now includes the Mumbai Indian Emirates and Mumbai Indians Cape Town along with Mumbai Indians, the team management recognized the need for a central team,” said the release.
“This would ensure consistency across the ‘One family of teams’, on ethos, values, and learning, that have made MI one of the most loved cricket brands across the globe,” the release added.
As part of building the structure, two Mumbai Indians veterans Mahela Jayawardene and Zaheer Khan are being elevated to don new roles.
New roles for Mahela, Zaheer
Mahela Jayawardene has been appointed as the Global Head of Performance, MI, providing senior leadership of the group’s cricket operations worldwide, including 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.
Zaheer Khan has been appointed as the Global Head of Cricket Development, MI and will be responsible for player development, building on MI’s program around talent identification and grooming and adopting the same across geographies.
Akash Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, said, “I’m happy to have Mahela and Zak as part of our global core team. Both have been an integral part of the MI family and embody the spirit of the cricket MI stands for. I’m confident that they would be able to ensure the same flow through all our teams globally and make a difference in the cricketing ecosystems across the globe.”