Mumbai Indians (MI), a five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champion, has made significant changes to its support staff for the next season. MI has appointed Zubin Bharucha as the team's new Director of Performance.
Bharucha, who previously worked with Rajasthan Royals (RR), will now become an important part of the high-performance and player development system at Mumbai Indians. The appointment was announced by Mumbai Indians on Saturday (August 22). According to the franchise, he will collaborate with MI's existing multidisciplinary leadership group and play a role in establishing interaction between various performance-related departments.
The 56-year-old Zubin Bharucha was long a part of the Rajasthan Royals cricket setup. He served as the team director from 2008 to 2015. After a two-year ban for Rajasthan, he returned to the franchise in 2018 and held various senior positions, including Cricket Operations Director, until 2026. Additionally, he worked for a period with Delhi Capitals (DC).
In Rajasthan Royals, his main achievement was identifying and nurturing young Indian talent. He contributed to the development of players such as Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Dhruv Jurel. Zubin Bharucha was also a key figure in Rajasthan's player development system, which helped the rapid growth of 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Zubin Bharucha himself played first-class cricket. He represented Mumbai and Surrey. In 17 first-class matches, he scored 1021 runs at an average of 42.54, including 3 centuries and 4 half-centuries. In 11 List A matches, he scored 189 runs at an average of 18.90, scoring 2 List A half-centuries.
After gaining experience as a player, he dedicated much time to cricket management and high-performance systems. Mumbai Indians is once again aiming for an IPL trophy victory. The five-time champion last won the title in 2020. Following that, there was a lack of consistency in performances, and the team managed to qualify for the playoffs only twice. Furthermore, Mumbai Indians finished last in the table for two seasons, and in one season, their performance ended in ninth place.