Ken Borland

When one leaves the job of national cricket coach “to pursue other opportunities in line with his future career and personal objectives”, then the IPL would be a most suitable next step and Proteas coach Mark Boucher was duly confirmed as the Mumbai Indians new head coach on Friday.

Boucher announced earlier this week that he would step down as the Proteas coach after the T20 World Cup next month in Australia, and the “pursue other opportunities” reason was attributed to Cricket South Africa CEO Pholetsi Moseki in their statement.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Mark Boucher to Mumbai Indians. With his proven expertise on the field and off it as a coach, guiding his team to numerous victories, Mark will add immense value to MI and take forward its legacy,” Akash M. Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, the owners of the franchise, said.

Boucher has overseen a steady growth in the Proteas T20 team, such that they are now ranked third in the world and are considered dark horses for the World Cup crown in Australia.

For Boucher, taking the coaching reins at a franchise as powerful as Mumbai Indians, the most successful IPL team in history with five titles since 2013, can almost be considered a step-up, especially in terms of salary.

But the last couple of years have been rough for Mumbai and there will be pressure for Boucher to turn around their fortunes as quickly as possible, because they missed the playoffs in 2021 and finished last this year.

“It is an honour and privilege for me to be appointed as head coach of Mumbai Indians,” Boucher said. “Their history and achievements as a franchise clearly put them up there as one of the most successful franchises in all of world sport.

“I look forward to the challenge and respect the need for results. It’s a strong unit with great leadership and players, and I look forward to adding value to this dynamic unit.”

Reports had suggested Boucher was being lined up for the MI Cape Town coaching gig in the inaugural SA20 early next year, but Australian Simon Katich has been appointed to head that sub-franchise, with Hashim Amla as the batting coach.

Boucher replaces Mahela Jayawardena as IPL coach, with the Sri Lankan great now looking after all three sub-franchises in the IPL, SA20 and Emirates T20 for Reliance as global head of performance.

Following the announcement that Mark Boucher will be stepping down as Proteas coach after the T20 World Cup next month, it has emerged that the record-breaking wicketkeeper is lining up a lucrative Indian Premier League gig as the next step in his coaching career.

Boucher’s success with the South African T20 team – they are currently ranked third in the format – has attracted the attention of IPL franchises, who will also remember the stint he served as an assistant with the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016.

It is believed though that Mumbai Indians are after his services to lead the Cape Town franchise in the new SA T20 competition early next year. This could provide Boucher with a stepping stone into becoming their coach for the IPL, which would be one of the best-paid jobs in cricket.

Mumbai finished 10^th and last in this year’s IPL under Mahela Jayawardene, a massively disappointing performance considering they won the tournament five times between 2013 and 2020.

CSA could announce an interim coach to take over from Boucher in the coming summer, before making a permanent appointment.

So who does South African cricket have who could take over the Proteas’ reins?

Robin Peterson

The spin-bowling all-rounder is probably the perfect candidate to succeed Boucher. Peterson has considerable international experience, having represented South Africa in 15 Tests, 79 ODIs and 21 T20s between 2002 and 2014. He has also done a wonderful job as coach of the Warriors, considering their limited resources, and they were pipped to the four-day title by the Northerns Titans last season. They are currently fourth in the overall Division One standings, ahead of teams like Western Province, KZN Dolphins and the Free State Knights.

Peterson also favours an extremely positive brand of cricket, his ability to empower the players being perfectly suited to the direction in which the modern game is going.

Malibongwe Maketa

The current owner of the SA A coaching job, the 41-year-old is next in line in terms of the pipeline. Maketa was also the assistant coach of the Proteas under Ottis Gibson from 2017-2019, but the outbreak of the Covid pandemic has meant the SA A team has hardly played in recent times and his coaching aspirations have been set back. But his tactical acumen and player management are both excellent. He represented Border in his playing days and is a former head coach of the Warriors.

Wandile Gwavu

Gwavu has enjoyed great success coaching the Lions and has won five trophies since 2019 when he took over from CSA’s current director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe, as head coach. And that will also be in his favour because he is almost a protégé of Nkwe’s and believes in the same principles of good structures and empowering the players. They are certainly on the same wavelength.

Counting against Gwavu is that he is still very young in coaching terms – just 35 years old – and he has no international experience.

Mandla Mashimbyi

Mashimbyi took over as Titans coach in the middle of the 2019/20 season when Boucher took over the Proteas role, managing to rebuild a team that dominated the second decade of the 21^st Century but was in need of new blood.

Leading Northerns to the four-day title last season, as well as runner-up finishes in both the white-ball tournaments, was an outstanding achievement with a new-look side.

But the 41-year-old would also be taking a step into the unknown at international level, having never been there before.

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee has been put through the mill a few times by Leinster in his marvellous career and he is still seeking his first victory against the Irish giants.

And to do that with his team on Friday night in Dublin in the United Rugby Championship semi-finals would cap what Coetzee says has been a magnificent year with his new club.

Given how integral the 31-year-old has become to the Bulls set-up, it is hard to believe the former Sharks and Ulster star has only been at Loftus Versfeld since April 2021.

Playing for Ulster for five years from 2016 has given Coetzee a first-hand view of Leinster’s rise to the top of European rugby, and the Springbok ruefully admitted that although his Irish club were the Dublin side’s archrivals, he never managed to be on the winning side against them.

“The key to Leinster’s strength is the amount of players they have representing their country and their strong leadership. And they have continuously grown,” Coetzee said.

“I have personally never won against them, which just shows the success of their system. It’s going to be a tough battle and Leinster are a side you always measure yourself against.

“They are the juggernauts of European rugby and we are all trying to catch-up to them. But our system at the Bulls is also pretty good, which is why we are in playoffs for both the URC and the Currie Cup.

“I call it a system, but basically the Bulls are a family. In fact, sometimes you see your team-mates and coaches more than you see your wife! But it has been one of the best years of my life,” Coetzee said.

Apart from being the king of offloads in the URC, Coetzee has also been a tower of strength in terms of carrying and defending, but it is his smuts-work at the breakdown that could be most valuable against Leinster.

“Leinster have great poachers and not just Josh van der Flier. Our whole pack has the mindset that we have to stop them because it’s a key area. Both teams like to play with tempo,” Coetzee said.

Although coach Jake White specifically mentioned the height of his back three, with Canan Moodie retaining his place at fullback and Kurt-Lee Arendse on the bench, as being important because he expects a lot of kicking from Leinster, he also singled out their tempo of play as being a key strength.

“Leinster can really punish you, they do the little things really well and they play at such a high tempo. They have incredible talent around the park, so all 23 of our players have to play well.

“Generally Leinster don’t have anything to target, they are well-balanced with no real weaknesses. But all our players believe we have a chance,” White said.

Victor Matfield’s love for the Bulls is well-known given his legendary career at Loftus Versfeld and so it was no surprise to hear the former Springbok captain say that Jake White’s team are clear favourites for him when it comes to their United Rugby Championship quarterfinal against the Sharks in Pretoria on Saturday.

And the presence of White, who was coach of the Springboks when they won the 2007 World Cup with Matfield the man of the match in the final, is one of the differences between the two teams for the former lock, who backed him to get the better of Sharks coach Sean Everitt, whose ability to get the best out of a star-studded Sharks team has been questioned in some quarters.

“The Bulls must be favourites,” Matfield said. “They are better coached at the moment, they know how they want to play and how to win.

“The Sharks are a fantastic team on paper, it’s just that they don’t always play the way we know they can.

“Playing at Loftus Versfeld will also definitely be an advantage for the Bulls, they know how to play there and have had a very good record there for the last two-to-three years.

“But the Bulls scrum will need to stand up because the Sharks have won a lot of penalties there. The Sharks scrum very well,” Matfield said.

The lineout maestro also said he wanted to see the Bulls really pile on the pressure in the opening exchanges, using their powerful forwards to batter the Sharks and have them crying for mom early on in the quarterfinal.

“The Bulls struggle when they start games too loose, they are very good when they start by getting that forward dominance.

“In some games we’ve seen them not employ a drive at the first three lineouts, instead going to the midfield and trying to play ball-in-hand rugby.

“But I think once they get that momentum, that forward dominance, then they can spread the ball and really test the defences.

“I would like to see them build first, really squeeze the Sharks, and then they can throw the ball around,” Matfield said.

If the Bulls do beat the Sharks, however, then Matfield said a likely semi-final against Leinster at Aviva Stadium in Dublin would be a daunting prospect.

“Once they get over to Europe for the semi-finals then it becomes much more difficult. To beat Leinster you have to be at your best.

“But I believe the Bulls and Stormers can compete against them if they get their packs of forwards really up for the game,” Matfield said.