Mumbai Indians are the five-time champions of the Indian Premier League. Rohit Sharma’s side dominated IPL 2020 and have cemented their reputation as one of the greatest teams in the history of the IPL. The squad consisted of young members as well as experienced professionals who have been with the Mumbai Indians side for a long time. In IPL 2020, Ishan Kishan smashed over 500 runs while Suryakumar Yadav also chipped in with some match-winning contributions. From the batting to the bowling, Mumbai Indians had both depth and back-up. During the Rajasthan Royals book launch, former India skipper and Under-19 coach Rahul Dravid spilled the beans on what made the Mumbai Indians such a dominant outfit.
Dravid stated that the Mumbai Indians team had a perfect blend of youth and experience and it allowed the youngsters like Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar and uncapped players like Suryakumar Yadav to learn from the best in the IPL. “What they've done really well over the last four or five years is to maintain a strong core of really high-quality players and mix that up with some really good young talents. They were able to spot Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya at a young age, they've brought in Rahul Chahar and backed Ishan Kishan, and while you wouldn't exactly call Suryakumar Yadav a young player because he's been around for a while, a large part of their success is down to a very good scouting structure,” Dravid said.
The Tewatia effect
Rahul Dravid cited the example of Rahul Tewatia as to how the IPL gave him a chance to transform himself into a match-winner. In the past, if Rahul Tewatia had to get a big opportunity, he would have had to play in the Ranji Trophy for Haryana but he would be behind the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal as well as other spinners like Jayant Yadav and Amit Mishra.
However, following his magnificent exploits against Kings XI Punjab where he hit five sixes in one over and hit a 29-ball fifty, Rahul Tewatia has transformed himself into a phenomenon. “"In the past, Rahul Tewatia would not have been able to show his talent because there wouldn't have a stage to do it. But that's the other great positive of the IPL. You have eight franchises looking out for the best players, so it's like having eight extra pairs of eyes watching out for talent all over the country, which is exactly why you're seeing so many of these young players come through. It's already opened the floodgates for people from small towns and cities who watch the IPL on television," he added. "Coaching is not a barrier to anyone because you get to listen to the best experts on television, and because of the money of the IPL, there are facilities in small towns in India which you would not have heard of a decade ago,” Dravid said.
Dravid stated that the junior system in India is very strong but with the IPL, it has expanded the horizons of opportunities for the youngsters and their rise has coincided with the surhe in IPL viewership and expansion.
“It's not easy to give them these experiences just in a domestic competition. The IPL gives these talents the opportunity to express them on the world stage. As much as we can do as coaches to help them in their journeys, the opportunity to bat with Virat Kohli and to learn from AB de Villiers is priceless and will help them grow as cricket players and as people as well. It's no coincidence that, if you look at India's white-ball cricket since the IPL started in 2008, we've won one World Cup, we've been in the semi-finals of two others. We won a Champions Trophy, we've been in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cups. In the last decade, India's white-ball cricket has been the best ever in our history, and a lot of that is because of the experiences these young players are getting,” Dravid said.
