Which IPL team has scouted the best talent?

Going by the track record, Mumbai Indian is the most successful team of IPL history.

They have won the championship as many as five times (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020).

Mumbai Indians are currently captained by Rohit Sharma and the head coach is Mahela Jayawardene.

Mumbai Indians made its IPL debut in the 2008 inaugural season.

The first two seasons were not good for MI as they were knocked out of the tournament in the league stage itself.

In the 2009 season, barring Sachin Tendulkar and Ajinkya Rahane with the bat and Harbhajan Singh with the ball, no one turned up.

In the 2010 season, MI recruited many domestic talents from the Indian Cricket League.

This strategy paid off.

The likes of Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary dominated the tournament ,before MI lost the final to Chennai Super Kings.

Though experienced players like Tendulkar and Harbhajan also performed, the MI management realized the importance of recruiting uncapped Indian players in a tournament like IPL, as a long-term strategy.

After the 2010 IPL season, Mumbai Indians started the talent scouting agressively.

They introduced a scheme called ‘Youth First Policy’.

The program was headed by former senior cricketers,  Kiran More, Abey Kuruvila, TA Sekar and former Indian Coach John Wright.

They would travel across the country to watch the local matches and find the talent that can be groomed for the future that would not only benefit Mumbai Indians but also Indian cricket.

In the 2012 season, MI Indian bought Kuldeep Yadav.

In 2013, John Wright saw  a raw nineteen year-old Jaspreet Bumrah bowling for Gujarat in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy.

He found Bumrah troubling the Mumbai batsmen who found his bowling action very difficult to pick.

Soon enough, Bumrah made his IPL debut in April 2013 and picked up three wickets in his debut match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, including the wicket of Virat Kohli.

Bumrah made his ODI debut for India in 2016 and is now, one of the best bowlers in the world across all formats.

Hardik Pandya was picked up in the 2015 season and now, he is the leading all-rounder for the Indian team. 

It is not always possible that all the young uncapped players get a chance to play but by sharing the dressing room with experienced coaches and players, they learn a lot.

Making Rohit Sharma Captain

In 2013, it was decided to give the captaincy to Rohit Sharma.

At that time, Rohit was trying to establish himself in the Indian team and after MI entrusted him with the captaincy, they won 5 championships that is something unbelievable.

This shows that Mumbai Indians are not great in just scouting talent but also scouting a brilliant captain.

Why talent scouting is important

Young uncapped players are very important since younger players bring in a lot of energy in the team.

They don’t  come with any additional baggage and the opposition knows very little about them.

The owners of MI, Neeta Ambani and Akash Ambani are involved in the formation of the squad.

The financial strength of the franchise has played a huge role in managing their players. 

Preparation starts way in advance. Players who are not involved in the international schedule practise in state-of-the-art grounds and gyms where they get the best facilities.

Mumbai Indians have learnt from their mistake of only relying on experienced players in the initial years (2008 to 2010).

Now, one can safely say that talent scouting has played a big role in their success.