IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians back Kieron Pollard as 'core member' after dropping him on 35th birthday 

Mumbai Indians dropped a huge hint on all-rounder Kieron Pollard's future after dropping him in the IPL 2022 match against Chennai Super Kings on Thursday.

Kieron Pollard has been a core member for Mumbai Indians (Image credit: IPL/Twitter)
By Samrat Chakraborty | May 12, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by five-wickets in a low-scoring thriller at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday. Both the franchises have recorded a tumultuous time in the lucrative tournament this season and are playing for pride with an outside chance of making it to the IPL 2022 playoffs. Mumbai Indians medium-pacer Daniel Sams picked up a three-wicket haul to bundle out CSK to 97 runs while in response young Tilak Varma (34 not out) played an important knock to help them sail over the line in 14.5 overs. 

Mumbai Indians have looked like a pale shadow of themselves in IPL 2022. The Rohit Sharma-led side created an unwanted record of eight consecutive losses on the trot before registering their first win in the lucrative tournament this season. But their slump in form makes perfect sense as the franchise is still looking to compile their best XI from the new look squad which was formed at the IPL mega auction.

Mumbai Indians have shown that they have an array of talents including the likes of Dewald Brevis, Tilak Verma, Jofra Archer, new joinee Tristan Stubbs and batting maverick Tim David in their line-up who can prove to be a handful in the upcoming season. Their middle-order which used to have Hardik Pandya in the line-up might have looked shaky with West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard not holding the fort after his release. 

READ MORE: IPL 2022: Dhoni believes Jadeja will be irreplaceable for Chennai Super Kings

IPL 2022 CSK vs MI: Mumbai Indians show faith in Kieron Pollard

The decision to drop one of the longest serving members of the Mumbai Indians squad Pollard was not an easy one for the franchise, their captain Rohit Sharma admitted at the toss. But his poor run in form, which saw him scoring 144 runs in 11 matches at an average of 14.40 and a strike rate of 107.46 — his lowest strike rate in any IPL season — left the franchise with no other option. “He (Pollard) was the one who came up to us and he was ready for it. We want to try out a few players, got to see what they have to offer. Looks a good track, hope it plays well throughout the 40 overs. It’s brilliant to play against Chennai, it’s always like that. We need to try and win the game,” Sharma said at the toss.

But the Mumbai Indians director of cricket Zaheer Khan backed Pollard as a core member of the franchise and was happy to see him contributing for the side from the sidelines. “Pollard has been one of the main contributors to the success of this franchise over the years, he’s been part of the processes through and through. Like I mentioned, it is the last leg of the tournament, so that’s why a few new faces and as an individual and as a member of the core group, he (Pollard) was on board, it wasn’t easy on him but he made it easy for us. He has been a great team man and even today it was nice to see his contributions from the sidelines,” Zaheer Khan, the Mumbai Indians director of cricket, said in the post-match interview.





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