Boston (US), February 17: Ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), Nita Ambani, the owner of Mumbai Indians (MI) and founder-chairperson of Reliance Foundation, opened up about the journey of scouting new talent for the team, particularly the inclusion of Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma.
During her keynote address at the Harvard India Conference on Indian Business, Policy & Culture, Ambani recalled the early days of scouting talent for MI, emphasizing the challenges and strategies involved in building a winning team. “In IPL, we all have a fixed budget, so every team can spend a certain amount of money. We had to think about new ways of getting talent,” she said.
Ambani fondly remembered discovering Hardik and Krunal Pandya at a Ranji Trophy match. “Our scouts took two young, lanky, thin boys to the camp. They told me they had been eating nothing but Maggi noodles for three years due to lack of money. But I saw in them the spirit, the passion, and the hunger to make it big.” In 2015, MI acquired Hardik Pandya for just $10,000 at the auction, and he has since risen to become the team’s captain.
Nita also shared the story of discovering Jasprit Bumrah: “The next year, we found a young cricketer with odd body language, but when he bowled, we saw how he could speak to the ball. That was our Bumrah, and the rest is history.”
She also mentioned the growth of Tilak Varma, who made his IPL debut last year and is now a proud member of Team India. “Mumbai Indians is rightfully called the nursery of cricket in India,” Ambani added.
Speaking on the current performance of key players, Bumrah has taken 165 wickets in 133 IPL matches, making him MI’s second-highest wicket-taker after Lasith Malinga. Hardik Pandya, who faced challenges in IPL 2024 with some fans expressing discontent over his performance, will be looking to bounce back. Meanwhile, Tilak Varma has been a consistent performer, scoring 1,156 runs in 38 matches at a strike rate of 146.33.
Ahead of IPL 2025, the Mumbai Indians squad includes notable names such as Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, and a mix of promising new players like Arjun Tendulkar and Raj Angad Bawa.
MI IPL 2025 Squad: Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult (Rs. 12.50 crore), Naman Dhir (Rs. 5.25 crore), Robin Minz (Rs. 65 lakh), Karn Sharma (Rs. 50 lakh), Ryan Rickelton (Rs. 1 crore), Deepak Chahar (Rs. 9.25 crore), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Will Jacks (Rs. 5.25 crore), Ashwani Kumar (Rs. 30 lakh), Mitchell Santner (Rs. 2 crore), Reece Topley (Rs. 75 lakh), Krishnan Shrijith (Rs. 30 lakh), Raj Angad Bawa (Rs. 30 lakh), Satyanarayana Raju (Rs. 30 lakh), Bevon Jacobs (Rs. 30 lakh), Arjun Tendulkar (Rs. 30 lakh), Lizaad Williams (Rs. 75 lakh), Vignesh Puthur (Rs. 30 lakh).