Zaheer Khan names young talent he is 'excited to see'; check out his surprising choice

With the India-England series coming to an end all eyes have now been shifted to the IPL 2021. As less than 2 weeks to go for IPL 2021, defending champions Mumbai Indians are yet again considered to be favourites. Recently, Mumbai Indians Director of Cricket Operations Zaheer Khan hosted a Twitter Space session to answer some questions, both from the Mumbai Indians management and the fans. Former India left-arm pacer also revealed what separates the Mumbai Indians from other IPL teams. 

Recently, players like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, and Krunal Pandya got selected for the India Vs England tour. With their inclusion, almost 6 players from the MI camp got the national duty call. Zaheer Khan also expressed his joy that the youth brigade of the Mumbai Indians team has performed well and got selected for team India. 

During the IPL 2021 auction, MI again placed their bid backing some young talents including players like Arjun Tendulkar, Yudhvir Charak, and South African young all-rounder Macro Jansen. All the youngsters were bought at a price of Rs. 20 lakhs. During the question-answer session, MI's Director of Cricket Operations also revealed a name he is excited to watch playing for the team. 

"It is always great to see when someone new joins and adds something to the squad. We are really looking forward to having Marco in the team. He’s an exciting young talent, very tall, able to add extra bounce and subsequent variations, and can contribute with the bat as well. He’s going to add that dimension to our side. Yudhvir was part of the support team last year as well, in UAE. We've kept up with the tradition of finding young talent and backing them to evolve as cricketers," said Zaheer. 

At the 2021 IPL auction, when Marco Jansen’s name popped up, Mumbai Indians were one of the first teams to bid for him. This raised many eyebrows as the defending champions have scouted for talents across the globe. It is to be noted that Mumbai Indians placed their faith in players like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya when they were young and now they are one of the most important members of team India. 

Who Is Macro Jansen?

Macro Jansen is a South African tall left-arm all-rounder. Marco Jansen was given an opportunity to bowl at the Indian players in the nets during their South African tour in 2017-18. After Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri saw them, they invited him and his twin brother, to come and bowl at another practice session. And interestingly when Macro was bowling in the nets to the Indian skipper, Kohli was beaten three times in a row outside off stump. Marco Jansen’s twin brother Duan has also been considered as one of the most exciting young talents in South Africa. He was also been invited to the Indian team’s practice session back in 2017-18.

(Image Credits: @ImZaheer/Twiter/PTI)