People often assume defending a championship is the hardest thing in sports. It isn’t.
The hardest part begins the morning after you’ve won your first championship. That’s the day everyone starts believing you’ve figured it out. The temptation is to protect what worked, repeat every decision that brought success and convince yourself that you’ve found the formula.
We realised very quickly that there is no formula for sustained success. Winning a title gives you confidence. But it can also tempt you into believing you’ve cracked the code. As we prepared for the next season of T20 Mumbai, our focus wasn’t on defending a trophy. It was on staying true to the vision we’d started with. Winning championships mattered, but they were never the destination. They were proof that the ecosystem we set out to build was working.
From the very beginning, we never saw ourselves as just owners of MSC Maratha Royals. We saw ourselves as builders of an ecosystem, one that could create meaningful opportunities for Mumbai’s emerging cricketers. Spend a morning at Shivaji Park or Azad Maidan and you’ll understand what this city has in abundance. Young cricketers. Big dreams. Endless determination. Talent has never been Mumbai’s challenge. Opportunity has.
We have always believed our role to be far beyond just putting together a competitive squad. We wanted to contribute meaningfully to Mumbai cricket, and for that we needed to build something that gave young players a genuine pathway to grow. A place where they could be spotted, mentored, challenged and prepared, not just for one season but for a career.
Winning matches suddenly felt like only one part of the job. The bigger responsibility was building a platform that could outlast any single team, season or trophy. Somewhere along the way, another thought stayed with us. Businesses are built to perform. But institutions are built to endure. From the very beginning, we wanted to think like an institution. That meant resisting the temptation to chase immediate results. It meant backing potential before it became obvious. Investing in coaching, fitness, scouting and mentorship from day one. Most importantly, it meant building systems that would remain strong regardless of who was wearing the jersey.
One moment from this year’s final captured that philosophy beautifully. Our captain was forced off the field through injury. For a few moments, everyone watching wondered what would happen next. But inside the team, nobody did. The right player immediately stepped in. Nobody looked towards the dugout for instructions. Nobody waited for someone else to solve the problem. I recollect watching that with a sense of pride. It was in that moment that I realized that our victory isn’t unfolding just on the scoreboard, but in the culture we’ve quietly built behind the scenes.
People often ask what it takes to defend a championship. Our answer is surprisingly simple. Great players can win you a title. But great systems give you a chance to win it again. That’s why discipline has to become part of the culture long before the celebrations begin.
This year, becoming the first franchise to successfully defend the T20 Mumbai League title was a proud milestone. But perhaps what made us prouder was the quiet reassurance that we were building something bigger than a winning team. A franchise that young cricketers across Mumbai aspire to be part of. A place where talent is not just discovered, but nurtured.
Years from now long after the applause has faded, we hope to be remembered not only for the championships we’ve won, but for the opportunities we created for Mumbai’s next generation of cricketers.
