A record five-time champions of the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians have discovered a plethora of talent since their first season in 2008.
Out of these talented players, some have graduated to the India level and played for the nation while some have lit the IPL stage with their commendable show.
The IPL as the biggest cricket league has drastically evolved over the years and so has the process to pick the players and identify potential talent. There was a time when instincts and references were enough to choose someone, but as this mega league turns 18 this year, the method of selecting uncapped players has certainly become quite tedious yet disciplined.
Almost like a fish-market like madness, one franchise which has mastered the art is the Mumbai Indians. The latest ones to join the bandwagon are Kerala’s Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar from Punjab. Their scouting system is a class apart undoubtedly, even though most of the other franchises also follow a similar process. MI certainly remains the pioneer in this regard.
To make this happen, a big team works relentlessly under the head coach Mahela Jayawardene, Director of Cricket Rahul Sanghvi and Chief Data Performance Manager Dhananjai CKM. These are the men who manage and modify the entire process.
Team owner Nita Ambani must also be credited for picking the perfect scouting panel, after Puthur and Ashwani became the latest youngsters to catch public imagination.
How Does the Scouting Process Work?
There are two parts to it.
The one is for immediate requirement of players, who can be called for trials and if satisfied, are put into the auction pool. The second is talent monitoring, at the age-group level without creating a big deal about it.
Thanks to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the state-organised T20 leagues have become a hub for picking untapped T20 talent. Vignesh came from KPL (Kerala Premier League) and Ashwani from the Shere-e-Punjab T20 League.
Prior to this, the explosive Pandya brothers (Hardik & Krunal), and the invincible Jasprit Bumrah were also picked by the scouting team years ago, who have become world class athletes today.
MI’s scouts also watch other tournaments that happen throughout the year. Nehal Wadhera, who was earlier with MI was first tracked while playing the CK Nayudu Trophy.
How is the Talent Tapped?
A year-round system involves intervention of some local spotters, with hidden identities inform the core team about budding players, especially at the age-group level.
At the U-16 level, cricket coaches are informed to track players with special talent secretly. It is done with an idea of selecting someone who could be at a higher level in the future years to come.
Prior to every season, the gaps and missing positions are checked and identified. Through all the domestic T20 leagues across the country, performances are monitored, and data is collected.
The MI maintains a huge database, where the performances of identified players is collated and carefully analyzed.
Final Trial Phase
Once the scouting process gets completed, the selected players undergo trials multiple times. These players are then ranked and scored by senior coaches on various parameters, depending on their skill as a bowler or batsman – runs, economy, decision-making, temperament, power-hitting, fitness etc.
There are also times when a particular talented player gets purchased in the auction, but not necessarily gets to play that season, since he may not fully ready for a debut. The athlete stays with the team, trains, plays domestic cricket and the data is collected over two seasons.
Depending on their improvement graph, the following decisions are taken.
Mumbai Indians, known to have nurtured some fabulous players over the years is at times unable to retain and choses to let them go. Players like Ramandeep Singh, Nehal Wadhera or Akash Madhwal were picked up by other franchises eventually after being a part of MI’s talent scouting process and playing for them for a couple of seasons.
Not everyone rises to the level of superstardom like Bumrah and Pandya, but the scouts at MI do provide the gifted players a high pedestal to reach the peak they had dreamt of. This process is truly unique and tedious at the same time.
The post Mumbai Indians: The Ultimate Talent Search Machine appeared first on Sportzcraazy.
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