IPL 2018: Kieron Pollard hopes to play major role in Mumbai Indians’ recovery

Mumbai Indians’ veteran Kieron Pollard has said he will be able to bowl as the Indian Premier League 2018 tournament progresses following a quiet game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last Saturday.

Pollard, who along with CSK all-rounder Dwayne Bravo sported a similar jersey number ‘400’ in the opening game, didn’t get to bat or bowl in Mumbai Indians’ narrow one-wicket defeat at the Wankhede Stadium.

“It was just the first game. You try to get the best combinations first-up and as Rohit (Sharma) said, (in the) first game we (Mumbai Indians) tend to start slow. In T20 cricket, in a new team, new faces, guys have to get accustomed to each other. Hopefully we will bounce back and you will see me bowl and bat along with lot many other things,” Pollard said.

Talking about the unique celebration of having similar jersey numbers, the most capped T20 cricketer Pollard expressed, “It is just something that (Dwayne) Bravo and I came up with, he is the first bowler in T20 cricket to take 400 wickets, and I am the only player so far to play 400 matches. Being able to play 400 matches, I think that in itself is a milestone in a format in which none of us thought much how much we would end up playing when we started our career in cricket. That was the reason. As he (Bravo) has said, next couple of games we are going back to our original numbers that is 47 and 55,” Pollard said.

With Mumbai Indians inducting a new bunch of young cricketers, Pollard said he believes it would push the seniors to do more.

“Watching them perform, such as the young Ishan (Kishan), young Mayank and the Pandya brothers as well, it shows that we have the enthusiasm. It is just a matter of building from there and hopefully change the momentum in the next game,” Pollard concluded.