Mumbai Indians is not only famous for its title wins, but is also known for recognizing emerging Indian players in time.
Mumbai Indians, one of the most successful teams of IPL, is known for its titles. Although MI has many excellent performing players, but Mumbai Indians has one special thing, which sets it apart from other teams. Mumbai Indians are also credited with recognizing emerging Indian players in time and including them in their team.
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There are many such stars in the Indian cricket team, who were included in the team by Mumbai Indians even before their international debut. So let us tell you about 3 such players:
1. Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah was selected by Mumbai Indians in their camp when he had just one year of domestic T20 experience. In 2013, he played only two IPL matches and in his very first match, he caught everyone’s attention by dismissing Virat Kohli.
In 2014 also, he played some IPL matches. However, this season was not very successful for him. However, his different style of bowling and his action impressed everyone.
During IPL 2015, he got a chance to play in only four matches. But, his yorker and ability to extract extra speed from the pitch soon got him a place in the Indian team. Jasprit Bumrah, who has become an important part of the Indian cricket team since 2016, is India’s all format winner match. He is also the main pillar of Mumbai Indians’ bowling.
2. Hardik Pandya
Former Mumbai Indians coach John Wright was the first to recognize Hardik Pandya’s ability. John Wright, who was present during a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match played between Mumbai and Baroda in 2014, was impressed by Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten innings of 82 runs off 57 balls. Before the IPL 2015 auction, Ricky Ponting and the support staff also insisted on including Pandya in the team.
Hardik Pandya’s performance was not very good in the first two seasons. However, Mumbai kept him in their camp. In the year 2016, he made his debut in the Indian T20 and ODI team. The very next year, Pandya also made his debut in Test cricket. He was also an important part of the team in four title wins (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020) by Mumbai Indians. Currently Hardik Pandya is the full-time captain of Mumbai Indians.
3. Axar Patel
Axar Patel, who started his career in First Class and List A for Gujarat in 2012, could not make any special record in domestic matches. In 2013, Mumbai Indians included him in their team. However, due to team combination, he did not get to play any match.
During the 2013-14 Ranji season, he performed brilliantly by scoring 369 runs at an average of 46.12 and taking 29 wickets at an average of 23.58. He also got the opportunity to gain experience with cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in the dressing room of Mumbai Indians. However, the team franchise released him.
After this, he showed excellent performance for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the IPL, due to which he got a chance to make his debut in the Indian ODI team in 2014 and T20 debut in 2015.