Scouting-The Best thing a cricketer could ask for!

Every Indian Premier League season, we discover fresh young talent eager to showcase their skills in front of a global audience. The IPL has provided players with numerous chances, not just for Indian players but for players from all over the world as well. And this season too, new talents will get recognition by the world.

Have you ever wondered where these teams get the names of the players they subsequently buy in auctions?

Teams’ scouting units have it all covered.

How does Scouting work in Indian Premier League?

Each squad has a dedicated scouting unit that operates all year long. Each team’s scouts keep a close watch on domestic competitions like the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, or even Ranji Trophy matches, and not to forget the U-19 events. Additionally, the state boards are requested to send their top athletes to the IPL teams’ training camps, where their actual performance is evaluated.

The scouting teams submit the names after the evaluations and trials, and they are immediately added to the auction list. In addition to these players, the scouting teams also choose a few who travel with the teams as net bowlers. These players are ultimately groomed so they can be picked in the upcoming season through auctions.

When it comes to the scouting teams, Mumbai Indians are known to have the best.

And who can argue with the fact that they manufactured Jasprit Bumrah, the greatest bowler in the world, as well as the well-known Pandya brothers and now Tilak Verma?

Here are some of the players from lowly backgrounds who impressed the scouts and eventually earned their IPL tickets:

Pandya Brothers

John Wright, a former New Zealand player and one of the successful coaches of the Indian team, he and Kiran More were the ones who scouted the Pandya brothers. Wright was heading the scouting operations for Mumbai Indians back in 2015. They already had an eye on them from the domestic games while the Pandya brothers were playing for Baroda.

From surviving a day on Maggi to fetching ten lakhs in the 2015 Auctions, Hardik came a long way. And eventually, Krunal made his way into the team via the 2016 Auctions. Now, both of them have represented India and are repaying for the sacrifices and efforts of their father.

Chetan Sakariya

The son of a tempo driver, Chetan Sakariya, is another player who got his IPL ticket in 2021. The Left-arm seamer used to work for his uncle for an extra income to support his family and used to train in the evening. He then bagged the scholarship offered by MRF- Pace Foundation, where he got to polish his skills and worked on his action.

During the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he impressed the scouts of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and made it to the list of net bowlers. He was with the likes of Dale Steyn and Umesh Yadav and got to learn a lot from the senior players. In the 2021 Auctions, it was Rajasthan Royals who picked him for a whopping sum of 1.2 crores, courtesy of his extraordinary bowling in the RR trials.

T Natarajan

Yorker King- T Natarajan became popular with his exceptional skills of bowling in the death overs. Teams were impressed seeing his performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, and why won’t they? He was bowling six on six-yorkers.

In the 2017 Auctions, the Kings XI Punjab purchased him for a staggering three crores. Being the son of a daily wage labourer, he needed this money to help his family during hard times. And today, he is the owner of two apartments, courtesy of his hard work. He was later acquired by Sunrisers Hyderabad for four crores and still continues to play for them. He was also a member of the Indian squad that famously won the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2021.

Tilak Varma

A classy batter and a son of an electrician, Tilak Varma’s hard work and commitment paid off. It was the mega auctions in 2022, and teams were looking for a batter with class. The name of the 19-year-old comes up in the list of uncapped players, where Mumbai Indians won the race and bought him for 1.7 crores.

Earlier in the year, Tilak was seen in the U-19 World Cup, where he impressed not just the scouts of IPL teams but the whole country. No wonder why teams like Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals were in the battle for him. His coach, who paid for his expenses and needs, will now be happy indeed.

Kumar Kartikeya

The story of Kumar Kartikeya is inspiring as well. The son of a constable in Uttar Pradesh left his home at the age of 15 and promised his family that his requirements wouldn’t be a burden for them. He came to Delhi, and under the guidance of Sanjay Bharadwaj-his coach, he started doing well. He used to work as a labourer at night to settle his expenses.

He then impressed the MI scouts and came in as a net bowler for the IPL 2022. But with Arshad Khan’s injury, he was roped into the main squad for 20 lakhs and got to play four games where he picked five wickets being economical.

Well, the list goes on-Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yash Dhull, Rinku Singh, Mohammed Siraj, and even Kuldeep Yadav are all the production of scouting. It is the best thing a player could ask for when all he does is hard work but doesn’t get recognition. As mentioned earlier, Mumbai Indians have the best scouting unit, which is based on the principle of- the “Youth First Policy”. They are renowned for having the finest management and the best scouts, having developed players like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Nitish Rana, and many others. May the scouting units continue doing their job effectively, and may we never grow weary of seeing these new guns perform incredibly well and thereby continue to amuse the fans.