Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 21 (ANI): Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday said that in the ongoing debate about the greatest franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai Indians (MI) holds an edge over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) due to its significant contribution to Indian cricket through nurturing exceptional young talent over the years.

Both MI and CSK have won five IPL titles each, with tactical masterminds Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni captaining them; there are not a lot of things separating them in the debate for the best IPL franchise. However, MI's scouting system and overall set-up have done wonders for both the franchise and the Indian cricket team, bringing in talents like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma to Team India. These talents are just a few that have been discovered or backed by the Blue franchise, and this has increased India's ICC trophy cabinet in recent years.

Speaking on JioHotstar's 'TATA IPL: Out or Out of the Park', JioStar expert Pathan said about the debate of the greatest franchise between MI and CSK, 'On picking the side between CSK and MI as the greatest team in the IPL, this will always be debatable. CSK started winning the IPL title from 2010 onwards. They won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 and were the first team to do so. But when MI started winning in 2013, they kept winning every alternate year. Then they won the IPL trophy back-to-back in 2019 & 2020. But what I like about MI is their contribution to Indian cricket. The number of match winners they have produced for the Indian team is absolutely tremendous.'

Irfan said that MI has been able to produce so many match-winners for Team India because they were able to achieve two things, making their franchise big and delivering results with the team they had.

'Even now, MI had a great squad last season that could have easily won the trophy, but they could not for different reasons. CSK do not have four Indian captains, MI do. In that respect, assembling a team and contributing to a bigger cause, I think MI are the greatest IPL team. I know CSK will always say they are also the greatest, having won five trophies too. There is no doubt. There will always be a debate and it is a fair debate. But I think MI take the edge because they have given so many wonderful cricketers and young talents to Indian cricket,' he concluded. (ANI)