Image: How Mumbai Indians scouted cricket stars like Pandya brothers and Jasprit Bumrah / © NDTV Sports
Ahead of the IPL, Mumbai Indians (MI) have reinforced their reputation as a talent hub, with Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani sharing insights on scouting Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma. She revealed that MI scouts discovered the Pandya brothers at a domestic tournament when they struggled financially, surviving on Maggi for three years.
In IPL, we all have a fixed budget, so every team can spend x amount of money, so we had to think about new ways of getting talent… that’s when I thought we should encourage new talent in Mumbai Indians. So I remember scouting for talent, and I used to go to every Ranji Trophy match and my scouts and I would go to all these domestic cricket matches. And one day, our scouts took two young, lanky, thin boys to the camp. I was talking to them, and they said that for three years, they’ve eaten nothing but Maggi noodles because they’ve had no money. But in them, I saw the spirit, the passion and the hunger that they wanted to make it big. Those two brothers were Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya.
Hardik was signed for $10,000 in 2015 and is now MI’s captain. Similarly, Bumrah was identified despite his unconventional bowling action and went on to become India’s top pacer. Last season, MI introduced Tilak Varma, who has since earned an India call-up. Ambani emphasized MI’s role in nurturing young talent, calling it the “nursery of Indian cricket”.