IPL 2021: "The other franchises need to learn from the Mumbai Indians how to build a team" - Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan believes the other IPL franchises can learn from the Mumbai Indians (MI) how to put together a formidable unit.

The Mumbai Indians have won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title on five occasions and were the two-time defending champions coming into this season. However, they failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2021.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Irfan Pathan spoke in glowing terms about the Mumbai Indians' meticulous planning in building a team. He said:

"Their scouting is best among all the franchises. The other franchises need to learn from the Mumbai Indians how to build a team. No other franchise does as many mock auctions as the Mumbai Indians. They choose players who no one has heard about. They go into a lot of detail."

The former India all-rounder pointed out that the Mumbai Indians scout for young players and turn them into match-winners. Pathan elaborated:

"No one knew the left-arm bowler from South Africa, Marco Jansen, but they had aimed to get him. If someone aimed to get Hardik Pandya, it was the Mumbai Indians when not many people knew about him, we are talking about 2013. You can talk about Rahul Chahar. They play a punt on young batters and bowlers, give them the confidence and make them big players. And they get to win after that."

Apart from the aforementioned players, Jasprit Bumrah is another example of a player who has grown by leaps and bounds after being onboarded by the Mumbai Indians.

---

Also Check: IPL Live Score | IPL stats 2021 | IPL Schedule

---

Aakash Chopra on the might of the Mumbai Indians lineup

The Mumbai Indians have some of the most promising Indian players in their lineup [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that the Mumbai Indians have contributed the most players to Team India's World Cup squad. He observed:

"If you take this team, there is Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah. The eleven which were playing, it had five Indian players and Rahul Chahar was sitting out. So six players from this team are part of India's T20 World Cup team."

The former India opener signed off by labeling the Mumbai Indians the best T20 franchise in the world. Chopra stated:

"In my opinion, whatever this season might have been, this is the best T20 team of this planet when you talk about franchise cricket. You will not get a better team than them, who does so well consistently and they will defeat a national team if you get them to play five matches against them."

The Mumbai Indians might be hit hard due to the upcoming mega-auction ahead of IPL 2022. It will be interesting to see how many of their trusted players they will be able to retain or get back at the auction.