Former India batter and two-time IPL winner Robin Uthappa has been appointed the Mumbai Indians (MI) batting coach ahead of IPL 2027. MI have also roped in Mitchell McClenaghan as bowling coach, T Dilip as fielding coach, and Dhawal Kulkarni as development bowling coach to join new head coach Kieron Pollard in the back room.
The updates came after Pollard replaced Mahela Jayawardene as head coach last week, with MI also parting ways with bowling coaches Lasith Malinga and Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach Carl Hopkinson on Thursday.
Both Uthappa and McClenaghan represented MI during their playing days. While Uthappa played for them in the inaugural IPL season in 2008, McClenaghan played for five seasons from 2015 to 2019. McClenaghan, the former New Zealand quick, took 71 wickets in 56 matches for MI, and was part of the side that won the titles in 2015 and 2019.
Uthappa, meanwhile, scored 320 runs in 14 matches at an average of 30.58 and strike rate of 114.69 for MI in his only season with them. After that, he went on to play for five other IPL franchises, including lifting the trophy with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2014 and with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2021. Overall, Uthappa played 205 IPL matches, and scored 4952 runs.
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Kulkarni, who played 12 ODIs and two T20Is for India, also represented MI, first from 2008 to 2013 and then again in 2020 and 2021. He was part of the MI side which won its first IPL title, in 2013, and then again in 2020. Apart from the IPL, Kulkarni also played for MI in the Champions League 2012-13.
Former India fielding coach Dilip was with the national side from 2021 to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024-25, and then again for a year in 2025.
The first task at hand for MI's new coaching staff will be the mini-auction for IPL 2027, which will be held on December 16 in Goa.