Team Feature: Mumbai Indians Cape Town

Rashid Khan, perhaps the most exciting franchise Twenty20 cricketer in the world, was named the captain of the Mumbai Indians Cape Town team. Rashid, from Afghanistan, has played for the Adelaide Strikers, the Band-e-emir-Dragons, Barbados Tridents, Boost Defenders, Comilla Victorians, Durban Heat, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kabul Eagles, Lahore Qalandars, Maratha Arabians, Nangarhar Leopards, Quetta Gladiators, and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, not counting Indian Premier League teams he has turned out for.

In Cape Town, he gets a chance to open new doors for the Mumbai Indians, featuring in a leadership role.

“I'm excited as we begin our journey in building “MI Cape Town”. With our direct player signings, we have taken the first step towards building the MI philosophy of having a strong core around which the team will be planned. I am glad to welcome Rashid [Khan], Kagiso [Rabada], Liam [Livingstone], Sam [Curran], and happy to have Dewald [Brevis] continue with us on this new journey,” said Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio.

“We are certain that MI Cape Town, like the two other teams, will play the brand of cricket MI is synonymous with-playing fearless cricket, and the same will resonate with the passionate cricket fans of South Africa and across the world.”

Brevis, of course, is already a big part of the MI family, being part of the Mumbai Indians IPL team and having traveled to England as part of a development squad to play matches against County second elevens and similar, even before he made it to the big stage.

Mumbai Indians became the first team to win the IPL three times when they beat Rising Pune Super Giants in 2017, having won the title earlier in 2013 and 2015. In 2019 they won their fourth title and stretched the lead further in 2020, securing the silverware for the fifth time.

Mumbai Indians are known for their strong scouting system, in which expert coaches from around the world, including the likes of New Zealand’s John Wright, travel to watch grassroots cricket and identify talent that could make it to the big league.

They also have a strong school program, which began in 2019. The most recent edition, called MI Junior Kick, included more than 2500 boys and girls starting from the Under-14 age group, across 200-plus schools.

Mumbai Indians are also the biggest brand in the IPL. Most recently, a report by Brand Finance estimated that MI was at the top of the heap, at $83 million, which is a 4 percent increase from 2021.

“I’m delighted to welcome our new T20 team to the Reliance family. We are excited to take the Mumbai Indians’ brand of fearless and entertaining cricket to South Africa, a nation that loves cricket as much as we do in India! South Africa has a strong sporting ecosystem, and we look forward to exploring the power and potential of this collaboration,” said Nita Amber, director of Reliance Industries. “As we grow MI’s global cricketing footprint, we remain committed to spreading joy and cheer through sport.”

When MI secured the Cape Town franchise they extended their reach to three teams, adding to Mumbai Indians in the IPL and the Abu Dhabi team in the International T20 League.

The Mumbai Indians IPL team is owned by Reliance Industries, India’s biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries, through its 100 percent subsidiary Indian Sports.

Reliance Industries, based in Mumbai, is one of India’s pre-eminent companies, with diverse interests that include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles but by no means limited to these fields.

The company, which is India’s largest exporter, was at rank 100 in the world’s Fortune 500 index at the end of 2022.