Dubai: Mumbai Indians, five-time IPL champions, started their planning for the next next season in earnest as they named ormer Team India wicketkeeper batsman Parthiv Patel as a talent scout. Patel, who retired from all forms of cricket only a day before, brings a vast domestic and international cricketing experience spanning over two decades, along with an understanding of the the dynamics of the IPL competition.
A pint-sized performer with a big heart, Patel was a part of the IPL championship-winning sides in 2015 and 2017 and has played for six IPL franchises in all. The 35-year-old will work closely with the Mumbai Indians coaching staff and scouts’ group.
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“I had enjoyed my cricket playing for Mumbai Indians, those momentous three years with the champion sides remain itched in my memory. Its time now to turn a new chapter in my life. I am excited, confident and thankful to the Mumbai Indians management for the opportunity presented to me,” Patel said.
Welcoming Parthiv into the Mumbai Indians set-up, owner Akash Ambani said: “I am delighted to have Parthiv joining us. We had the opportunity to pick his cricketing brain during his playing days at Mumbai Indians. I am very confident of his contribution to further enhance our scouting system with the depth of cricketing knowledge he possesses. Parthiv understands our ideology, the DNA of Mumbai Indians and what we are trying to create at MI. We welcome Parthiv to our One Family.”
Mumbai Indians are known for their robust and intensive scouting programme through which they have unearthed talents like Jasprit Bumrah and the Pandya brothers. Over the past few years, the franchise has been able to explore untapped territories, tournaments to identify and scout raw talents which shaped the Indian cricket landscape.