Mumbai: Mumbai Indians have completed their coaching overhaul for IPL 2027, announcing a new-look support staff under head coach Kieron Pollard on Friday.
Former India batter Robin Uthappa has been appointed batting coach, former New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan takes charge of the bowling department, ex-India fielding coach T Dilip will oversee fielding, and former India seamer Dhawal Kulkarni joins as development bowling coach. The four will work alongside Pollard, who was elevated to head coach last week after Mahela Jayawardene’s departure.
Uthappa’s appointment is his first coaching stint with an IPL team. A member of India’s victorious squad at the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, he represented Mumbai Indians during the inaugural IPL season in 2008 and returns to the franchise where his IPL journey began. He takes over the batting-coach role from Pollard himself, who held it before his elevation.
McClenaghan replaces Lasith Malinga as bowling coach, reuniting with the franchise he represented between 2015 and 2020. The left-arm pacer was part of Mumbai’s title-winning squads and brings direct knowledge of the franchise’s bowling culture. Kulkarni, a two-time IPL champion with Mumbai in 2013 and 2020, returns after two spells as a player, from 2008 to 2013 and again in 2020-21. His development role is a year-round position that, the franchise said, will ensure continuity in its performance programme and support for player development and talent-pool depth.
Dilip arrives with the strongest recent international pedigree of the four. He was part of India’s coaching staff for nearly five years, including the title wins at the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cups and the 2025 Champions Trophy, and will now be tasked with lifting the fielding standards of a side that finished ninth in IPL 2026, winning only four of its 14 matches.
The appointments follow the franchise’s decision to part ways with bowling coaches Malinga and Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach Carl Hopkinson. Pollard, whose association with Mumbai Indians spans 16 years as player, batting coach and now head coach, will lead the revamped group into a defining few weeks.
The new coaching group’s first task will be to finalise Mumbai’s player retentions ahead of the November 15 deadline, with the IPL 2027 mini-auction scheduled for December 17 in Goa. Mumbai last lifted the IPL trophy in 2020, and the overhaul is a clear statement that the five-time champions intend to rebuild from the dugout out.
