IPL 2023: South Africa legend likely to succeed Jayawardene as Mumbai Indians head coach

Former South African cricketer Mark Boucher is expected to replace Mahela Jayawardene as the head coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians. Boucher, who is the current coach of the South African Men's Cricket Team, has already confirmed that he will step down from the position after the conclusion of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Earlier, it was reported that Boucher will join the coaching set-up at the newly-formed MI Cape Town franchise in the South Africa T20 league. 

IPL 2023: Boucher to replace Jayawardene at MI?

However, it has now been confirmed that former Australian opener Simon Katich has already been appointed the head coach of MI Cape Town with South African legend Hashim Amla as batting coach. After the news of Katich's appointment broke, Boucher has become favourite to replace Jayawardene as the head coach of Mumbai Indians. Boucher has experience of coaching in the IPL as he was the wicketkeeping coach at Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2016 edition of the cash-rich league. 

According to ESPNcricinfo, Jayawardene, who was the head coach of Mumbai Indians since 2017, has now been promoted to the role of the global head of performance for MI group to oversee the coaching staff across all three franchises they own, including MI Cape Town and the MI Emirates. Former India cricketer Zaheer Khan, who was the director of cricket operations at Mumbai Indians till last season, has been elevated to the role of global head of cricket development for the group. 

Mark Boucher's coaching & playing career

As far as Boucher is concerned, he was appointed the head coach of the South African cricket team in 2019. He has since helped the team become one of the most formidable sides in world cricket, taking them to the second position in the ICC World Test Championship points table. South Africa are favourites to qualify for the final of the ongoing cycle of the WTC, given their current ranking on the table. Boucher started his coaching stint with Titans in South Africa's domestic cricket in 2016. 

Boucher is regarded as one of the best wicketkeeper-batter of all time. He played 147 Tests and 295 ODIs for South Africa from 1997 to 2012 and scored 5,515 and 4,686 runs, respectively. Boucher holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicket-keeper with 555 dismissals under his belt. Boucher announced his retirement from international cricket 10 years ago after a serious eye injury.  

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