Five Mumbai Indians cricketers who went on to represent India
When it comes to nurturing talent, there are two elements that we can associate to the Mumbai Indians. Firstly, the Mumbai Indians is one of those teams in the IPL which has got an excellent talent scouting team. Thus, in the last twelve years, they have picked several talented cricketers from the domestic circuit in the auction. Secondly, it is about the backing provided to these cricketers by the franchise.
The Mumbai team has always clung on to its choices and ensured that they give the youngsters the maximum opportunity. Irrespective of the performances, these cricketers got the right kind of support and guidance. Hence, as a result, they have gone on to play at the highest level for Team India. Here are five such cricketers who made their debut for India after playing for MI:
5. Rahul Chahar
Rahul Chahar is one of those bowlers who was picked up by the Mumbai Indians at a very young age. The leg-spinner has been around with the franchise since 2017. In 2017, he picked up two wickets in three games at an economy rate of 8.28.
However, it was the 2019 season which was a revelation for him. In the 13 games that he played in the year, the younger Chahar picked up 13 wickets at an economy under 7. Owing to his good performances in the domestic circuit as well as the IPL, he went on to make his T20I debut against the West Indies in August 2019.
4. Shikhar Dhawan
It has been a long time now but Shikhar Dhawan was once a part of the Mumbai Indians set-up before he made his international debut. Although he did not have an extended run with the franchise, that is where he honed his skills to the next level and excelled for the Deccan Chargers and the Sunrisers Hyderabad later.
Shikhar was with the Mumbai team in 2009 and 2010. While he scored 40 runs in 5 games in 2009, he played 10 matches in 2010 scoring 191 runs. Shikhar made his ODI debut for Team India in 2010 in a game against Australia.
3. Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya came through as a hard-hitting batsman and a handy bowler when the Mumbai Indians picked him in 2015. He had a very impressive run for Baroda in the domestic season and that persuaded the franchise to go for him in the auction. He showed his talent right in his first game when he smashed the second ball, he faced, out of the park for a six.
He then displayed his full potential with an 8-ball 21 against CSK in his debut season where his team needed 30 runs in the last two overs. Since then, his rise through the ranks has been phenomenal. Owing to the IPL performances for MI, he was fast-tracked into the T20I team and then the ODI team followed by the Test team.
2. Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is another one of those finest talents nurtured by the Mumbai Indians. Right when he made it onto the big scene in the IPL, there were several questions raised on his bowling actions. There were debates if he could go on with an unorthodox bowling action such as that without getting injured.
But Bumrah managed to quash all those doubts within no time. Till 2015, he picked up only 11 wickets in 17 games. However, his game rose to the next level after that. He has emerged into one of the finest bowlers in the world and now is an irreplaceable member of the Indian team across all the three formats of the game.
1. Krunal Pandya
Following the success of Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians then went on to pick his elder brother, Krunal Pandya, at the IPL auction. Krunal Pandya is another all-rounder who performed exceedingly well for Baroda in the domestic circuit and then eventually for the Mumbai Indians.
The southpaw started off with a very impressive debut season in 2016 where he scored 237 runs and picked up 6 wickets in 12 games. Since then, he has been on the rise turning into a very important member of the eleven. Krunal made his T20I debut for India in 2018 against the West Indies.
