MUMBAI: Former Indian pacer
Zaheer Khan has joined
Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise
Mumbai Indians as the Director of
Cricket
Operations.
The ex-left-arm seamer will be part of the Mumbai Indians think-tank, joining the owners, Nita Ambani and Akash Ambani at the IPL players auction in Jaipur on Tuesday, a release from MI said. One of the pioneers of the knuckle-ball who was known for outsmarting batsmen, Zaheer, a veteran of 92 Tests and 200 ODIs, will bring close to two decades of his cricketing experience in the new managerial role to the team.
The 40-year-old played for MI for three seasons — 2009, 2010 and 2014, taking 29 wickets in 30 games. This is the first time that Zaheer has joined the coaching staff of a team in the IPL.
In his last couple of seasons at the Delhi Daredevils, he was unofficially the captain-cum mentor of the team. This year, however, Zaheer decided not to play in the IPL, taking up media commitments instead.
Zaheer is now a part of a high-profile MI backroom staff that includes Sachin Tendulkar, Mahela Jayawardene, Robin Singh and Shane Bond. There will be no Lasith Malinga this time as he has put his name in the pool of players who will be up for auction. Last season, he had joined MI as bowling mentor after going unsold. MI are expected to buy their former player in the auction.
The three-time IPL champions will be going into the auction with a purse of Rs 11.5 Crore. The team has seven slots available. They can buy six Indian and one overseas player.
They will look to bank on the young local players. Shivam Dube, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, could be one of the top buys for MI in this auction.
The Squad: Retained: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya,
Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff.
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