Mumbai Indians (MI) are one of the most successful T20 franchises. Owned by Reliance Industries Limited, they have won five IPL and two - now defunct - Champions League titles. The Mumbai-based franchise has expanded its presence to various parts of the world. The franchise owns MI Cape Town in SA20 in South Africa, MI Emirates in International League T20 (ILT20) in the UAE, and MI New York in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA.

Image Courtesy: X (Mumbai Indians)

After securing consecutive IPL titles in 2019 and 2020, the Mumbai Indians faced a downturn, ending 5th out of 8 in 2021 and 10th out of 10 in 2022 IPL. It marked the franchise's lowest point in the history of IPL. Subsequently, Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach since 2017 with 3 trophies to his name, was promoted to the global head of performance, while former South African wicket-keeper-batter Mark Boucher was named the head coach.

In an exclusive interview with SportsBoom.com, the former South African head coach and cricket legend discusses his experience from the last season and his vision for the team.

Injuries in the bowling unit posed concern in the last IPL season

Reflecting on the last season with Mumbai Indians, Boucher emphasises the team’s high expectations for success. I think anytime you join Mumbai Indians, there's a lot of expectation and the expectation is to win at all times. We have won the championship quite a few times. Once the owners and the fans get a sniff of that, then they want to do it every time.

While recognising the unpredictability of sports and the challenges encountered, he particularly praises the team's batting display, highlighting a positive style of cricket. Boucher acknowledges the challenges he faced in the bowling unit as a result of injuries. Although they finished third, falling short of the intended win, he views it as a commendable effort given the situation.

Our bowling was a little bit shy, as I said, because of the injuries that we picked up. The third position is not what we wanted. We wanted to win, but third was not a bad effort, judging from what we had to go through last season. But a catch maybe taken here or there could have put ourselves into a final and then who knows what happens in the final, explained Boucher.

Image Courtesy: X (Mumbai Indians)

Boucher did not have extensive coaching experience in the T20 franchise circuit, but he was not a novice in the IPL setup. He played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL for four seasons and also served as the wicketkeeping coach at Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016. Prior to his role as head coach of the South African men's national team, he was in charge at Titans in the South African domestic circuit.

Kieron Pollard commands huge respect in Mumbai Indians

One of the notable aspects of every IPL team is the large support staff. Boucher, the head coach of Mumbai Indians, emphasizes the positive atmosphere and learning experience within the team. He commends the support staff, particularly the former Mumbai Indians player and current batting coach Kieron Pollard.

Image Courtesy: X (Mumbai Indians)

Polly (Pollard) is fantastic. He's got so much character in the change room. Polly is a strong person and a lot of the players trust him and look up to him. Whenever Polly opens his mouth in the dressing room, people listen. Not because he is going to hold him up against the side of the wall, but because they know what he's done.

Having him in the dressing room has a calming effect on the batting. You have a look at our stats in the batting, the aggressive nature we went about things, the calmness in the dugouts, all that type of stuff. I think a lot of that can be attributed to Polly as well because of his way that he is and his whole demeanour and understanding that he's got. He's still playing in franchises around the world he's in the know about who's playing good crickets and we feed off that, said Boucher.