Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) announced that Lasith Malinga, Paras Mhambrey, and Carl Hopkinson will leave the men’s team’s coaching setup, the latest stage of their coaching rebuild. For Malinga, the departure ends a relationship with the franchise that began in 2009 and ran, in different roles, for most of the next 17 years. He played 122 IPL matches, all for MI, and took 170 wickets at 7.14 per over. It remained the franchise’s highest wicket tally until Jasprit Bumrah passed it in April 2025.
He served as MI’s bowling mentor in 2018, then returned to the XI for the 2019 title, taking 16 wickets in his last season. After retiring from franchise cricket in January 2021, he spent two seasons as Rajasthan Royals’ fast-bowling coach, then rejoined MI in October 2023 as fast-bowling coach, succeeding Shane Bond.
His three seasons on the staff brought 10th place in 2024, fourth in 2025 before a Qualifier 2 defeat, and ninth in 2026.
Mhambrey was on the staff from 2010 to 2017, a spell that took in the 2013 IPL title and the Champions League T20 wins of 2011 and 2013, and returned as an additional bowling coach ahead of the 2025 season. Between those stints, he was India’s bowling coach from November 2021 to July 2024, a period that included the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph.
Hopkinson, previously England’s fielding coach, arrived for the 2025 season. The franchise has not named replacements for any of the three.
Mumbai Indians recently moved on from Mahela Jayawardene and appointed Kieron Pollard as head coach
MI parted ways with Mahela Jayawardene as head coach, with his second stint ending on October 17. He first took charge in 2017 and won titles in 2017, 2019 and 2020 before becoming global head of performance, overseeing the group’s teams in the SA20, ILT20 and MLC. He returned as head coach ahead of the 2025 season, reached Qualifier 2, then finished ninth in 2026.
MI promoted Kieron Pollard, his former batting coach, as head coach on October 24. The former West Indies all-rounder played for the franchise from 2010 to 2022, was part of all five title-winning squads, and joined the coaching staff in 2023.
MI were the first side to win five IPL titles but have not reached a final since 2020, and their 2026 campaign yielded four wins in 14 matches.
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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
