Mumbai Indians rope in Ricky Ponting as head coach

Ricky Ponting

Mumbai, Dec 10 (IANS) Mumbai Indians on Wednesday announced the appointment of former Australia captain Ricky Ponting as their head coach ahead of the eighth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Ponting was earlier the captain of the team in IPL 6. He replaces former India coach John Wright who moved to a new role of evaluating and establishing a youth development organisation and will be working closely with the management on talent scouting for the team.

"We are delighted to have Ricky back with us and look forward to his contribution based on his experience and expertise," former India captain, Anil Kumble, part of the Mumbai Indians think-tank said.

"John Wright will continue his association with MI and will look after talent scouting and youth development, which is one of the areas that we would like to build a stronger base in years to come."

The former Australian captain was picked up by the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise during the 2013 IPL auctions and captained the team in 6 matches before he was forced to sit on the bench after some poor performances. The captaincy was then handed over to Rohit Sharma, under whom the Mumbai Indians went on to win the IPL and the Champions League T20 (CLT20) that year.

BOOM! Ricky Pointing is all set to take charge of the blue and golden army. To read more - http://t.co/7kYlo1HYkx pic.twitter.com/peHjbNKYgi

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 10, 2014