Representative image. Harrias, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Why it matters
Mumbai Indians are one of the IPL's most followed teams, and the head coach shapes which players they keep and buy before the 2027 season. Pollard takes over a side that finished ninth in 2026, with retention decisions due within weeks.
Mumbai Indians (MI) have named Kieron Pollard head coach for the 2027 season, moving him up from batting coach to take charge of the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions for the 2027 season. The franchise announced the appointment on Saturday, 24 October 2026, in a statement on its website, a week after it parted ways with Mahela Jayawardene.
The move extends a link that began in 2010, when MI bought the West Indian all-rounder at the IPL auction. Pollard played all 13 of his IPL seasons for the team, won all five of its titles as a player and has been on the coaching staff since he retired from the league in November 2022.
Why MI made Kieron Pollard head coach
MI called it an elevation and said it extends one of cricket’s longest player-to-coach associations. The statement said his years as a player and then as batting coach give him a close understanding of the franchise and of modern Twenty20 (T20) cricket.
Co-owner Nita Ambani said Pollard had joined as a 22-year-old and become part of the MI family over 16 years. “Polly knows what it means to wear the MI jersey and what it takes to play for the Paltan,” she said in the statement, using the nickname fans and the team use for him and the name MI gives its supporters.
Pollard said it was an honour to take the job and thanked Nita Ambani, Akash Ambani and the wider franchise for their trust. He said he wanted to work closely with players and support staff, build on the team’s record and help young talent grow.
His first job will be to settle which players MI keep before the auction, Cricbuzz reported. No other changes to the coaching staff were announced on Saturday.
Why Mahela Jayawardene left and where MI stand
MI announced Jayawardene’s exit on 17 October. Cricbuzz reported that franchise officials met the evening before and decided to part ways, with his contract close to its end. In a statement at the time, the former Sri Lanka captain said he was leaving with great pride in what the team had achieved together.
His second stint did not match his first. Under Jayawardene, MI won the title in 2017, 2019 and 2020. After he returned for the 2025 season, the team finished fourth in the league stage and lost Qualifier 2 to Punjab Kings. In 2026 it finished ninth of ten teams with four wins from 14 matches, the news website ETV Bharat reported.
Cricbuzz reported on 17 October that MI had left it to the new head coach to decide whether to keep the rest of the support staff, including bowling coaches Lasith Malinga and Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach Carl Hopkinson, whose contracts have ended or are ending soon. MI has not announced anything on those roles.
Mumbai Indians head coaches since 2015, and how they did
Pollard becomes MI’s fourth head coach in a little over a decade. The table puts each coach’s seasons next to the team’s results, from MI’s announcements and match records reported by Cricbuzz, the sports network ESPN and Flashscore.
| Seasons | Head coach | MI’s best result |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 to 2016 | Ricky Ponting | Champions, 2015 |
| 2017 to 2022 | Mahela Jayawardene | Champions, 2017, 2019, 2020 |
| 2023 to 2024 | Mark Boucher | 4th in 2023; last in 2024 |
| 2025 to 2026 | Mahela Jayawardene | Lost Qualifier 2 in 2025; 9th in 2026 |
| 2027 | Kieron Pollard | Season yet to begin |
Between 2022 and 2024, Jayawardene held a separate job as global head of performance across MI’s teams in different leagues, which is why Boucher coached the IPL side for two seasons.
Pollard’s record as an MI player and coach
As a player, Pollard was one of the IPL’s hardest hitters. In 189 IPL matches, all for MI, he made 3,412 runs at a strike rate of 147.32, with 16 fifties and 223 sixes, and took 69 wickets, Cricbuzz reported. He was part of all five title wins, in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, and of MI’s two Champions League T20 titles in 2011 and 2013.
His innings in the 2013 final is often recalled. MI were 52 for 4 against Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens when he made 60 not out off 32 balls to lift them to 148, ETV Bharat noted, and they won by 23 runs.
He has coached too. Since 2023 he has been MI’s batting coach, and in 2026 he was head coach of MI London’s men’s side in The Hundred, the English 100-ball competition. He was also an assistant coach with England at the 2024 T20 World Cup. The MI job is his first as head coach of an IPL team. He still plays T20 cricket elsewhere: he turned out for MI New York in Major League Cricket and Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League in 2026.
What comes next for MI before IPL 2027
The Kieron Pollard head coach era starts with the retention list. Teams must name the players they are keeping by mid-November, Cricbuzz reported. The auction for IPL 2027 is likely to be held in Goa on 16 December, Business Today reported, citing a message from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to franchises. The BCCI has not published a formal notice of the date yet.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the new Mumbai Indians head coach?
Kieron Pollard, appointed on 24 October 2026 for IPL 2027. He was MI's batting coach since 2023.
What happened to Mahela Jayawardene?
Mumbai Indians announced on 17 October 2026 that they had parted ways with him ahead of IPL 2027.
How many IPL titles did Pollard win with MI?
Five, in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, all as a player.