Mumbai Indians' Robin Minz becomes first tribal to play in IPL

Robin Minz created history in IPL by becoming the first-ever tribal cricketer to play in the tournament.  Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans entered the auction into a bidding war for Minz's name, who is just 21 years old. A struggle between the two teams took him from his base price of INR 20 lakh to a paycheque of INR 65 lakhs by Mumbai Indians.

Minz has not made his debut in professional cricket yet. He is a left-handed wicketkeeper batter who plays hard-hitting shots. A middle-order batter, Minz had scored an unbeaten 73 off 35 balls playing in an invitational T20 competition in Odisha earlier this year.

Minz has played for Jharkhand U19 and Jharkhand U25 squads. He was picked by Mumbai Indians for a training camp, demonstrating why the five-time IPL winners were so eager to have him in their team. He also travelled to England for improved training.

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The 21-year-old was also called for trials by Lucknow Supergiants, Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. He went for trials with Delhi but was not picked and remained unsold in the 2023 IPL auction.

Minz thinks MS Dhoni is his idol and quit studying after clearing his 10th standard exams. His dad has been in the army and is currently employed in the security department at the Jharkhand airport.

Robin Minz, however, did not have a great start to his IPL campaign as he got dismissed for just 3 runs in the match against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, March 24.