From Jasprit Bumrah to Hardik Pandya, the story behind Mumbai Indians becoming the joint most succesful team has come from their in-house talent taking the world by storm. Not only have these players played a key part in the Men in Blue and Gold's title wins but also becoming global cricketing stars with their success for Team India.

Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani recalled the story behind the side acquiring the Pandya brothers and revealed her first meeting with Hardik and Krunal. She revealed meeting the duo when they were lanky and thin. Ambani revealed that before that their family was going through financial struggle before they got their break in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"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," said Ambani in an event in Boston.

'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," she added.

MI signed Hardik for Rs. 10 lakhs in 2015 and played an important role in helping the Rohit Sharma-led side win the title that season. A few months later, the star all-rounder made his debut for India and played in the 2016 T20 World Cup. Next season, Krunal Pandya also joined the Mumbai-based franchise for Rs. 2 crore.

Jasprit Bumrah was signed by the franchise outside the auction in 2013 before he went under the hammer and returned to their ranks in 2014 for Rs. 1.2 crore.

Hardik left MI ahead of the 2022 season and led Gujarat Titans for two seasons before returning to MI in 2024 and replacing Rohit Sharma as the captain. Bumrah has not played for any other franchise in his career.

Tilak Varma signed for MI in the 2022 mega auction for Rs. 1.7 and made his India debut in 2023. The youngster has already established himself as one of the best T20 batters in world cricket. He was retained by MI for Rs. 8 crore ahead of the 2025 mega auction.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.