NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals announced the appointment of former Mumbai opener Zubin Bharucha as the head of Cricket for the upcoming season 11 of the Indian Premier League.
Bharucha commenced work with the team on January 1.
Zubin first started to work with the Royals in the inaugural year of the IPL, identifying talent as well as responsible for planning and development of the players, setting the foundation for a strong Royals team. He will now be responsible for all cricketing aspects for the Royals franchise, from identification of talent through to player research and development, auction plans and strategy, players selections, staff appointments, as well as all aspects of analysis and planning for the team. Zubin works very closely with the team co-owner Manoj Badale and chairman & CEO, Ranjit Barthakur in the research, planning and implementation of all cricketing aspects of the franchise.
Welcoming the return of Bharucha to the family, Badale said: “I believe Zubin’s immense experience will be instrumental in the identification and development of a new team that will go on to bring honour and success to Rajasthan Royals. With him stepping in as Head of Cricket the squad will greatly benefit from his analytical skills and guidance.”
Bharucha added: “It’s a great honour and privilege to once again be part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise. The philosophy at the Royals has always been about finding the next generation of Indian Stars. We spend a lot of time getting to know our players, but spend infinitely longer hours on what they can become. This is the most exciting aspect of the role, taking raw talent and watching it flourish. This exercise often starts at the doorsteps of our statistical & analytical situation room in Chennai and is then translated into cricket language through our coaching staff to bring about the results we seek.”
Bharucha has been associated closely with the Rajasthan Royals since the inception of the Indian Premier League. From the inaugural season in 2008 to 2015. he played a vital role in various aspects from scouting through to analytics. His active involvement in scouting and then players analysis in IPL 2008 assisted Shane Warne implement a variety of in game strategies, the team outperformed to become champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League.
With Bharucha as the head of Cricket, the team went on to the play-off stage twice in IPL 2013 and 2015 (narrowly missing out in 2014). In 2013, the team also reached the finals of the Champions League.
