There is a reason the Mumbai Indians are five-time IPL champions. Their scouting talent is second to none. For years, the franchise has invested in players who have gone on to become stars of Indian cricket.

Look no beyond that Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, who, in less than 10 years, have become undroppable from the Indian team. Hardik and Bumrah's rise to fame - first with MI and then with the Indian cricket team has been a classic example of teams, Mumbai Indians in this case, identifying the right talent and providing a breeding ground for them to shape and nourish themselves further.

Nita Ambani, owner of the Mumbai Indians, recalled how she first met Hardik and his brother Krunal Pandya more than a decade ago during a preparatory camp. Hardik made his MI debut in 2015 and for India the following year. From there, what he has achieved in his career is gobsmacking; however, none of it would have been possible without MI's immaculate scouting process. From starting out as an all-rounder to becoming captain of MI, Hardik's rise inspires the next generation of cricketers coming through the ranks.

"In IPL, we all have a fixed budget, so every team can spend x amount of money, so we had to think about new ways of getting talent... So I remember scouting for talent, and I used to go to every Ranji Trophy match, and my scouts and I would go to all these domestic cricket matches. And one day, our scouts took two young, lanky, thin boys to the camp," she said.

"I was talking to them, and they said that for three years, they've eaten nothing but Maggi noodles because they've had no money. But in them, I saw the spirit, the passion and the hunger that they wanted to make it big. Those two brothers were Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. In 2015, I bought Hardik Pandya at 10 thousand US dollars in the auction, and today, he's the proud captain of Mumbai Indians."

Bumrah would talk to the ball

MI and Ambani's story don't end there. Even before Hardik, they spotted Bumrah. In 2013, a young Bumrah rattled AB de Villiers' stumps for MI against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and gave him a send-off. As Bumrah has often revealed, he never bowled with a season ball while growing up - it was mostly tennis balls and tape balls for him. And still, for a bowler with very limited skills with a proper cricket ball to become the world's greatest fast bowler today, it is not something you hear every day.

"The next year, our scouts got one young cricketer with an odd body language, and they said watch him bowl. We watched him he could just speak to the ball. That was our Bumrah and the rest is history. Last year, we launched Tilak Varma, and now he is a proud member of Team India. So I think Mumbai Indians is rightfully called the nursery of cricket in India," Mrs. Ambani said.