Mumbai Indians (MI) have brought in former first-class cricketer Zubin Bharucha as their new Director of Performance, as the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions look to strengthen their setup across the franchise.
Bharucha joins MI after spending the last few years with Rajasthan Royals (RR). He worked as RR's Director of High Performance from November 2022 until the end of IPL 2025.
Bharucha joins Mumbai Indians setup
Mumbai Indians confirmed that Bharucha will work with the franchise's existing performance and support teams.
"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.
“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," said the franchise in its statement.
His new role will cover different areas of player performance and development across the MI network.
Bharucha's playing and coaching career
Bharucha was a right-handed batter who represented Mumbai and Surrey during the 1990s. He played 17 first-class matches and 11 List A games before moving into coaching and management.
His association with Rajasthan Royals began with the first IPL season in 2008. He worked as the team's Team Director until 2015.
He then joined Delhi Daredevils, now known as Delhi Capitals, as Technical Director for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Bharucha returned to Rajasthan Royals in 2018 as Director of Cricket Operations before later taking charge of their high-performance programme.
Helped develop several Indian stars
During his time with Rajasthan Royals, Bharucha played an important role in the development of several young Indian players.
He was particularly involved in the progress of Sanju Samson, whom he also mentored personally. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi were among the other players who benefited from the high-performance setup at RR's centre in Talegaon.
Mumbai Indians plan wider revamp
Bharucha's appointment comes after Mumbai Indians missed the IPL 2026 playoffs.
According to a source quoted by IANS, his responsibilities at MI will extend beyond the first team and cover the wider player-development structure.
"Bharucha’s focus will be on further sharpening of MI’s scouting process and enhancing round-the-year player development programs across both men's and women's setups, including the off-season work on improving their skills. At the same time, he will be expanding and strengthening MI’s existing talent scouting network," the source said.
The franchise will now look to use Bharucha's experience to improve its scouting system, develop players throughout the year and build a stronger talent pool across both the men's and women's teams.