Mumbai Indians (MI) announced that they have appointed South African legend, Mark Boucher as their Head Coach starting with IPL 2023. Mark Boucher has had a long and illustrious career as a wicket-keeper batter and holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a gloveman. In 2019, Cricket South Africa appointed Mark Boucher as the head coach where he crafted 11 Test wins, 12 in ODIs, and 23 T20I victories.
Confirming the appointment, Akash. M. Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Jio Infocomm, said “It’s a pleasure to welcome Mark Boucher to Mumbai Indians. With his proven expertise on the field and off it as a coach guiding his team to numerous victories, Mark will add immense value to MI and take forward its legacy.”
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Mark Boucher, Head Coach, Mumbai Indians said, “It is an honor and privilege to be appointed as Head Coach of MI. Their history and achievements as a franchise clearly put them up there as one of the most successful sporting franchises in all of world sport. I look forward to the challenge and respect the need for results. It’s a strong unit with great leadership and players. I look forward to adding value to this dynamic unit.”
Boucher was the front-runner to become the successor of Mahela Jayawardena as the Mumbai Indians coach. On Monday, Boucher announced his resignation as South Africa’s head coach, effective after the country’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
Mark Bucher’s decision was unexpected for quite a few but Cricket South Africa CEO Pholetsi Moseki said that Boucher wants to “pursue other interests and opportunities.
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It’s not the first time Boucher will get involved in IPL as he has first served as the wicketkeeping coach for the Knight Riders in the 2016 IPL. Though, he doesn’t have much experience coaching in the T20 franchise circuit. He has previously played for both the KKR and RCB. After that, he took over as head coach of Titans in the domestic South African league before taking over as coach of the South African men’s national team.
