Jonty Rhodes has parted his ways with Mumbai Indians, whom he served as the fielding coach for nine years. Mumbai is the most successful franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and he was with them in all their ups and downs.

The franchise roped in James Pamment as the new fielding coach, who was associated with New Zealand and Northern Districts in his prior tenures.

“Jonty has been a pillar of strength and energy in Mumbai Indians. His contribution cannot be valued in words. We respect his decision and wish him the best for the future. Jonty will always be a part of Mumbai Indians family for life,” said MI owner Akash Ambani.

“We are happy to introduce James Pamment to the MI Paltan (MI Fan Army). James is an experienced coach at the international level having worked with New Zealand Cricket as fielding specialist and development. What impressed us was the way James had coached Northern Districts in Champions League T20 in 2014, and to be honest, his sides’ fielding unit was one of the best Mumbai Indians had ever faced.”

Rhodes, who wants to focus more on his business ventures, thanked for the support from the franchise and quoted “It has been a remarkable journey with Mumbai Indians, one that I will cherish all my life. Over the last nine years, Mumbai Indians has set sporting benchmarks both on and off the field, and personally, it’s been quite a remarkable journey for me to work with fantastic set of individuals like Sachin, Rohit, Anil, Ricky, Mahela and all the support staff and players over the years.”