Jayawardene, Zaheer elevated to new roles in Mumbai Indians

"The team management recognized the need for a central team. This would ensure consistency across the 'One family of teams’, on ethos, values, and learning, that have made MI one of the most loved cricket brands across the globe," the group said in statement.

Jayawardene, who served as the head coach for MI, has been appointed the Global Head of Performance, providing senior leadership of the group’s cricket operations of all the three teams the franchise owners now have - Mumbai Indians in the IPL, MI Emirates in the ILT20, and MI Cape Town in the SA20.

Jayawardene would be involved with overall strategic planning, the creation of an integrated global high-performance eco-system, as well as responsibility for each team’s coaching and support structures, working closely with the team head coaches to ensure synergies, a consistent brand of cricket, and implementation of best practices set by MI.

Zaheer, earlier the director of cricket operations, has been appointed as the Global Head of Cricket Development.

He will be responsible for player development, building on MI’s robust program around talent identification and grooming and adopting the same across geographies, which has been core to MI’s philosophy and success.

On Zaheer and Jayawardene's new roles, Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Akash Ambani, said: "Both have been an integral part of the MI family and embody the spirit of the cricket MI stands for. I'm confident that they would be able to ensure the same flows through all our teams globally and make a difference in the cricketing ecosystems across the globe."

(With UNI Inputs)