IPL 2027: Steffan Jones joins Mumbai Indians as bowling consultant

NEW DELHI: Steffan Jones, former high-performance coach at Rajasthan Royals (RR), will join Mumbai Indians (MI) as a bowling consultant for their development program, TimesofIndia.com has learnt.

The 52-year-old will work with MI’s development squad alongside Zubin Bharucha, who has joined the five-time champions as director of performance, earlier this year.

Jones, who also served as Rajasthan Royals’ fast-bowling coach during the 2019 edition of the IPL, was later brought back by the franchise as its high-performance fast-bowling coach ahead of IPL 2022.

It is also learnt that Bharucha and Jones have a specific role: to work with Indian players during the ongoing domestic season.

Jones, who played first-class cricket in the English county circuit between 1997 and 2011, recently worked with India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. The Welshman helped the youngster improve his bowling speed. Reddy, who used to bowl in the mid-120s, is now consistently clocking the mid-130s.

Earlier on Saturday, MI roped in Kieron Pollard as their head coach, replacing Mahela Jayawardene. The franchise is likely to take the big call on captaincy and movement is expected on Hardik Pandya trade in the coming weeks.