Kieron Pollard has been officially appointed as the eighth head coach of the Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2027 season.
He is replacing Mahela Jayawardene, who stepped down from the role last weekend.
Mumbai Indians, the five-time champion, has not won a single title since 2020
Kieron Pollard has been named the new head coach of the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the IPL 2027. This announcement was made on Saturday, October 24, following Mahela Jayawardene's resignation from the position last weekend. This makes Pollard the eighth individual to have held the position in the franchise's history.
Last season Jayawardene was the head coach of Mumbai Indians, the team ending up in fourth place in the points table. Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, have not won a title since 2020 and are going through a difficult period. They have only made it to the playoffs on two occasions in the last five seasons. This long period of poor performance has finally led to a major rearrangement of the backroom staff.
As Pollard is about to begin steering the team in a new era, let's look back at the full list of all eight head coaches who have served Mumbai Indians since the first season.
Kieron Pollard (Present): Having been appointed as head coach for the 2027 season, Kieron Pollard is now taking over the role of head coach of the Mumbai Indians and aims to use his strong ties with the team to pull them out of their recent poor form and get them back into the running for the title.
Mahela Jayawardene (2017 – 2022 & 2025 – 2026): From 2017 to 2022 Mahela Jayawardene had his first and a very successful term as head coach before returning for the 2025 and 2026 seasons; although his first period saw the team win a number of championships, his most recent second term concluded with him resigning following a difficult phase for the team.
Mark Boucher (2023-2024): Mark Boucher assumed the role of head coach during a transitional phase with the Mumbai Indians. Although he wanted to reestablish the core of the squad, the team were unable to consistently match the form they had shown when winning titles in the past.
Ricky Ponting (2015-16): Ricky Ponting was in charge of the Mumbai Indians, introducing to the coaching role his usual aggressive approach. Because of the tactics he employed the team won the IPL title in 2015 and thus laid the foundation for a winning culture in the following years.
John Wright (2013-14): John Wright was in charge during those two seasons and introduced a calm and methodical atmosphere into the dressing room. His period in charge is a historic one for the club since he was able to lead Mumbai Indians to their first IPL title in 2013.
Robin Singh (2010-2012): Robin Singh was head coach from 2010 to 2012 and brought with him a great deal of experience in domestic coaching as well as a strong sense of tactical discipline.
Shaun Pollock (2009): Pollock the great South African cricketer, took on the role of leading the coaching staff for one season only. Having moved from being a top player to taking on a mentoring role, he contributed to stabilising the team in the early, formative years of the Indian Premier League.
Lalchand Rajput (2008): Rajput was the first head coach of Mumbai Indians when the team entered the inaugural 2008 IPL season and was responsible for laying the initial foundations of the franchise in the new tournament format, having to deal with the special difficulties of the league's first year.he league's debut year.
