Former IPL talent spotter Monty Desai reveals his experience with Rajasthan Royals

Former talent scout for Rajasthan Royals, Monty Desai recounts his experience working with the franchise. Monty worked for the Jaipur-based Royals till 2015 as their main scout. Further, he was instrumental in scouting little-known players like Pravin Tambe, Sanju Samson to name a few.

Meanwhile, Desai is currently working as the batting coach of Afghanistan Cricket team. Desai admitted that he is proud to be a part of the set-up which had Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid.

During the initial stages of the tournament, Royals backed young prospects. Further, they emerged victorious in the inaugural edition of the tournament. Since then, they have given opportunities to raw talents.

Currently, they have roped in Aryaman Vikram Birla and Midhun S, who are lesser known.

Royals willing to take the risk:

In a chat with Sportstar, Desai revealed the way they used to scout domestic talents for Royals.

“We (Royals) began with the catchment areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. After 2008, we conducted trial camps in October – December because back in the day, the domestic players weren’t part of the auction,” Desai said.

Further, Monty Desai explained that they used to match skill to skill and rope in players for the tournament.

“In these camps, we tried to match skill to skill. So for example, if a batter was able to play big shots against one particular bowler in one particular situation, then we pit him against a different set (bowlers) to try and see if he could replicate his performance. If we found anyone interesting, he was then sent to the development camp,” Desai added.

However, the final call remained with Warne and Dravid whether to pick them or not.

“They had the final say on which players to pick. The fact that an unknown commodity like Kamran Khan was picked ahead of an experienced bowler goes to show that they were willing to take the risk in terms of team composition,” Desai concluded.

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