Mumbai Indians appoint Mahela Jayawardene as new head coach

Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians has appointed Sri Lankan batting legend Mahela Jayawardene as their batting coach for the upcoming season. The 39-year-old will replace the highly successful Ricky Ponting, the franchise announced. Jayawardene has previously played in the IPL as a player. He has represented Kings XI Punjab, Kochi Tuskers and Delhi Daredevils but played the last of his 80 IPL games during the 2013 season. However, he remains active on the T20 circuit as of now, having recently represented Somerset in the T20 Blast.

Mumbai Indians announced the new appointment on their official Twitter page. “We welcome one of the most elegant & graceful batsmen of the modern era, @MahelaJay as the new Head Coach of Mumbai Indians. #WelcomeMahela,” said the franchise in a tweet.

We welcome one of the most elegant & graceful batsmen of the modern era, @MahelaJay as the new Head Coach of Mumbai Indians. #WelcomeMahela pic.twitter.com/wFlulxw4iM

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 18, 2016

He is currently playing for the Dhaka Dynamites in the ongoing season of the Bangladesh Premier League and is also slated to represent the Karachi Kings in the second edition of the Pakistan Super League. He has also signed up to play in Shane Warne’s Cricket Superstars tournament later in 2017.

Jayawardene retired from international cricket in 2015 and has acted as a coaching consultant for England during the this World T20 earlier this year and served as a batting consultant for them ahead of their series against Pakistan in UAE.

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In an illustrious international career spanning 18 years, Jayawardene scored over 25000 international runs, with over 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. He played the last of his 55 T20Is in 2014, retiring with a memorable World T20 triumph in Dhaka.