From Vignesh Puthur to Ashwani Kumar - How MI scouts have unearthed stars in the IPL

While the ten IPL franchises each have their set of fanbases, an eleventh one is fast growing for the Mumbai Indians (MI) scouting system. With the ability to unearth fresh young faces often unseen and unheard of, MI has become a talent factory for future Indian prospects like no other IPL franchise.

The 2025 season has already seen two such examples with the emergence of 23-year-olds, Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar. The former - a left-arm wrist spinner - picked up three big wickets in MI's opening game against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

And in just their third outing against the Kolkata Knight Riders last night, left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar propelled the side to their first victory of the season with figures of 4/24 on his IPL debut.

MI skipper Hardik Pandya could not help but praise the franchise's scouting system for identifying such incredible talents out of seemingly nowhere.

"This wicket just offered a bit more and we thought Ashwani can come in and bowl the way he bowled. First of all, it’s all because of the scouts. All MI scouts have gone all the places and picked these young kids," he said at the post-match presentation (via The Print).

Meanwhile, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra offered the highest praise to the MI scouts on Star Sports after the KKR clash, saying (via Crictoday):

"If I were part of an IPL franchise, I would sit behind the table of Mumbai Indians to see their target list during the auction. I would only bid for players who are on Mumbai Indians’ target. There is no point in doing a lot of hard work. The best way forward is to follow Mumbai Indians and bid for the cricketers they are interested in. Hats off to them for spotting talents. Other franchises have their scouting teams, but Mumbai are ahead of them."

MI's scouting system has played a massive role in the franchise holding the joint-record for most IPL titles with five.

On that note, let us deep dive into how MI unearthed the two young talents of this season - Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar.

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The Vignesh Puthur Journey - Literature to IPL Leap

Left-arm spinner Vignesh Puthur's journey to playing for MI in the ongoing IPL is one for fantasy movie lovers. Hailing from Mallapuram in Kerala, the 23-year-old is the son of an auto driver and is pursuing an M.A. degree in Literature.

The youngster is still yet to even play for his state side, Kerala, making his selection to MI during the IPL 2025 auction for his base price of ₹30 lakhs all the more stunning. MI handpicked Vignesh based on what they saw at the Kerala Premier League.

While his numbers were nothing off the charts, the uniqueness of his bowling style impressed the MI scouts. The franchise also made the smart decision of making Vignesh travel with the MI Cape Town side for the SA20 post the IPL auction to help interact with other star players and get a feel of the dressing room.

Talking about the youngster, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said (via Indian Express):

"We have to compliment our scouting guys. The idea has always been about seeing the potential more than anything else. And when we saw him in one of our trials, we saw the potential in him. Rather than looking into how much cricket he’s played in the past. It’s purely the thought that he has the potential."

MI also assessed him before the IPL in the DY Patil Tournament, where he picked up only two wickets in three outings.

Despite the lack of experience at any of the highest levels and nothing much to show in terms of numbers in limited recent opportunities, MI bet on Vignesh reaped dividends.

"Rohit, Surya, Tilak, all these guys batted against him (in the nets). It wasn’t easy to pick him. We felt that we had the confidence of pushing him in this game. And it turned out to be excellent. It was a good decision," Mhambrey said.

The punt proved itself when Vignesh removed CSK's two best batters -Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube in front of a packed Chennai crowd on his IPL debut. That his dropping for MI's second game against the Gujarat Titans (GT) had fans and experts questioning the decision is a win in itself for the franchise and its scouring system.

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Ashwani Kumar's travel from ₹30 to ₹30 Lakh

Left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar's journey to the IPL may not be as fantastical as Vignesh Puthur's, but it is just as inspiring. Hailing from Punjab, the 23-year-old struck a chord with the MI scouts based on his performances at the Sher E Punjab T20 Trophy.

It meant the franchise, impressed with his bowling in the powerplay and the death, acquired him for ₹30 Lakhs.

Ashwani Kumar's father, Harkesh Kumar, summed up his son's journey in a conversation with Indian Express, saying:

"Rain or hot sun, Ashwani would never hesitate to go to PCA at Mohali or later at the new stadium at Mullanpur. Sometimes, he would cycle to PCA academy or take lifts or would go in shared autos. I remember he would take Rs 30 from me for the fare and when he was picked up for Rs 30 lakh by Mumbai Indians in the mega auction, I knew his worth was every penny."

He added:

"After each wicket today, I would think about those days when he would return at 10 pm after his training and again wake up the next day at 5 am to head hack."

After warming the benches in MI's opening two outings, Ashwani struck gold on his IPL debut. From skipper Hardik Pandya failing to remember his name at the toss, the youngster became the talk of the IPL universe in the next two hours.

He picked up incredible figures of 4/24, including the massive scalps of Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell. It was the best bowling figues by an Indian on IPL debut.

As the MI players took a victory lap at the end of the contest with Ashwani soaking in all the applause, it was another 'W' for the franchise's scouting system.

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Why Team India can thank MI's Scouting system for their past, present, and future

The Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya story began out of nowhere with MI [Credit: Getty]

The brilliance of the MI scouting system does not date back to only the last one or two years. The franchise invested in the likes of Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma, among others, when they were unknown commodities to even the ardent followers of Indian domestic cricket.

Apart from achieving success for themselves in the IPL, these players produced largely by MI's diligent scouts have been godsends for Team India. Hardik and Bumrah helped the Men in Blue break their ICC title drought with stellar performances in the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph.

Titles aside, the duo, along with Tilak Varma more recently, have made India undeniably the most consistent white-ball side in world cricket over the past decade.

MI's scouting system performs a deep assessment of unique and young talents from every possible T20 league around the country. Several former cricketers are part of this process, following young players and their consistencies across even lesser-known tournaments and recommending them to the franchise.

The franchise also occupies a specialized analysis team for capturing the numbers and other attributes of these select players, following which they are invited to camps for trials.

Such meticulous processes have yielded incredible results for the franchise and in turn for the country. The MI scouring system must have also provided the belief to any budding cricketer playing anywhere in the country that his opportunity to strike gold could happen anytime. And there is no bigger triumph for the player, the IPL and Team India than that.