Mumbai Indians on Saturday appointed Zubin Bharucha as their Director of Performance to work with the franchise’s leadership teams across their ecosystem. Bharucha, a former first-class cricketer for Mumbai and Surrey, joins the five-time IPL-winning side Mumbai Indians, ending a long stint with the Rajasthan Royals, where he held multiple roles. “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,” Mumbai Indians said in a statement.
“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.”
Bharucha held various roles at RR, including Team Director, Head of Cricket, and Director of Cricket Operations and High Performance, while playing key roles in the development of Indian players such as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
As a right-handed batter, Bharucha played for both Mumbai and Surrey in the 1990s and made 17 first-class and 11 List A appearances before moving into coaching. His long association with the Rajasthan Royals dates back to the inaugural IPL season in 2008, when he served as Team Director until 2015.
He later worked as Technical Director for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) from 2016 to 2017 before returning to RR as Director of Cricket Operations in 2018, eventually becoming their Director of High Performance.
At RR, Bharucha has been instrumental in shaping the careers of several India stars, including Sanju Samson (whom he also mentored personally), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, at the high-performance centre in Talegaon.
Regarding his role at MI, a source told IANS that Bharucha’s scope will be very broad as the franchise begins executing a revamp of its setup after failing to qualify for the IPL 2026 playoffs.
“Bharucha’s focus will be on further sharpening MI’s scouting process and enhancing year-round player development programmes across both the men’s and women’s setups, including off-season skill development. At the same time, he will be expanding and strengthening MI’s existing talent scouting network,” the source said.
About the Author
