Mumbai Indians' scouting is best among all the franchises - Irfan Pathan

Mumbai Indians had a disappointing run in IPL 2021. The team did not keep going in the second half of the tournament, owing to which they couldn’t make it to the playoffs this season. The former India cricketer and commentator Irfan Pathan however has heaped praises on MI for the way they build their team.

The Rohit Sharma-led side has been one of the most successful teams in the tournament. Mumbai Indians have won five titles and have always been one of the toughest contenders in the league. Pathan thus asserted that other franchises should take some inputs from MI on how to build a strong team.

“Their scouting is best among all the franchises. The other franchises need to learn from the Mumbai Indians how to build a team. No other franchise does as many mock auctions as the Mumbai Indians. They choose players who no one has heard about. They go into a lot of detail,” Irfan Pathan said during a discussion on Star Sports.

Mumbai Indians play a punt on young batters and bowlers and make them big players: Pathan

MI has been instrumental in grooming some exceptional talents over the years now. Be it the likes of the Pandya brothers or pacer Jasprit Bumrah, all of them had been picked up by the franchise who later went on to do wonders for the nation. Pathan highlighted these points and appreciated MI’s scout for spotting young talents and then turning them into match winners.

“No one knew the left-arm bowler from South Africa, Marco Jansen, but they had aimed to get him. If someone aimed to get Hardik Pandya, it was the Mumbai Indians when not many people knew about him, we are talking about 2013. You can talk about Rahul Chahar. They play a punt on young batters and bowlers, give them the confidence and make them big players. And they get to win after that,” Pathan added.

Quite a few players from Mumbai Indians’ squad are a part of team India for the upcoming T20 World Cup. This further explains the amount of repertoire this side possesses. Former cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra pointed these aspects and stated, “If you take this team, there is Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah. The eleven which were playing, it had five Indian players and Rahul Chahar was sitting out. So six players from this team are part of India’s T20 World Cup team.”