From Maggi noodles to IPL, Nita Ambani reveals how Mumbai Indians discovered Hardik, Bumrah

Feb 17, 2025

Boston (US), Feb 17 (ANI): Reliance Foundation Founder-Chairperson Nita Ambani told how she scouted for new talent for the Mumbai Indians team and included Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma in the team She said, "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. 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. 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."