IPL 2025: 'Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya had no money, survived on Maggi' - Nita Ambani's shocking revelation

The owner of Mumbai Indians Nita Ambani has opened up on the recruitment of star allrounders Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya for the franchise. She revealed how the duo rose from the ashes to become successful cricketers.

The story of Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya is one of the best and most inspiring success stories in Indian cricket. The duo shone into the limelight after their stupendous performances for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Nita Ambani also spoke about the recruitment of Jasprit Bumrah, who has gone on to become one of the best fast bowlers to have played for India. All these players have been highly impactful cricketers in the IPL and have also contributed a lot for their country.

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Nita Ambani on recruiting Hardik Pandya & Krunal Pandya

Nita Ambani was speaking at an event in Boston when she revealed the details regarding the recruitment of Hardik and Krunal for Mumbai Indians. She claimed that the brothers didn't even have the money to eat proper food and just ate Maggi to sustain their living.

"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," Nita Ambani was quoted as saying by ANI.

"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," she recalled.

The owner of Mumbai Indians further revealed that both Hardik and Krunal had the hunger to perform which prompted MI to sign both of them. While Hardik made his debut in 2015, Krunal debuted in 2016 for the franchise.

"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 Nita Ambani.

#WATCH | Boston, US: Reliance Foundation Founder-Chairperson Nita Ambani tells 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 says, "In IPL, we all have a fixed budget, so every… pic.twitter.com/v0HriPJH8T

— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2025

Nita Ambani on Jasprit Bumrah's recruitment

Further speaking on the same platform, Nita Ambani spoke about Jasprit Bumrah's signing. She revealed that the talent scouting team saw something different in Bumrah's bowling action and they signed him. She further termed Mumbai Indians as the "nursery of cricket in India".

"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," she said.

"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," the MI owner added.

Hardik Pandya & Jasprit Bumrah still playing for MI

While Krunal Pandya is out of the national team reckoning, Hardik Pandya has emerged as the country's best white-ball allrounder. Jasprit Bumrah too has been excellent across formats and is one of the best to have emerged from the nation.

All these players played key roles in MI winning four titles from 2015-2020. While Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah are still playing for Mumbai Indians, Krunal Pandya was signed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2025 mega-auction.