Mitchell McClenaghan, four-time IPL champion with Mumbai Indians, has been appointed bowling coach of MI Emirates, its ILT20 affiliate. It will be McClenaghan’s first major role as a coach, as he last played professionally in 2021. He represented New Zealand in 48 ODIs and 29 T20Is with 82 and 30 wickets respectively.
McClenaghan will work under Robin Singh, who was appointed head coach after spending the first season of ILT20 as general manager of MI Emirates. Singh, who resigned as UAE men’s coach last year, replaces Shane Bond, who left the Mumbai global network and took over at Paarl Royals in the SA20.
Ajay Jadeja, who spent the 2023 World Cup as Afghanistan’s mentor, has also joined the MI Emirates backroom staff as batting coach. Vinay Kumar (Assistant Coach) and James Franklin (Fielding Coach) will continue in their roles from the inaugural ILT20 season.
MI Emirates recently announced that Nicholas Pooran will be their captain this season, joining after a brief spell with the Durban Super Giants in the SA20. They will be without Kieron Pollard, who led them to a third-place finish last season and who has replaced the injured Rashid Khan as captain of MI Cape Town.
Several other ILT20 franchises have changed coaches ahead of the 2024 season, which begins on January 19. Johan Botha replaced Paul Farbrace at Sharjah Warriors, with compatriot JP Duminy working as his assistant. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the English wicketkeeper-batsman, replaces Moeen Ali as captain.
Elsewhere, Hemang Badani replaced Phil Simmons as coach of Dubai Capitals. Badani, who has recently worked with the Sunrisers franchises in both IPL and SA20, recently coached India Capitals in the Legends League, which, like Dubai Capitals, is owned by GMR Group.
Andy Flower will continue as coach of defending champions Gulf Giants, while James Foster remains in charge of last year’s runners-up Desert Vipers. The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, who were coached by Abhishek Nayar last season, are yet to announce their head coach for 2024.
