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Pollard was lucky to have escaped censure from the officials after he was told to remove the tape, failing which action would be taken. And Pollard, like an obedient boy, removed it after one over of 'fun'.
Updated : Sep 29, 2017, 09:24 PM IST
Mumbai Indians star Kieron Pollard may have thought it was fun to seal his mouth with a tape after being asked to keep quiet by the umpires as he was constantly chatting up batsman Chris Gayle. It was anything but funny.
The incident may have been a way to garner attention but Pollard need not resort to such antics, just by his on-field performances, he is an IPL superstar.
And considering that Mumbai Indians had 209 to defend and Royal Challengers Bangalore's Gayle was struggling to put bat to ball, such banter was uncalled for. It may have drawn laughter from the spectators and been discussed about in the social media but it was not in the right spirit.
Pollard was lucky to have escaped censure from the officials after he was told to remove the tape, failing which action would be taken. And Pollard, like an obedient boy, removed it after one over of 'fun'.
No doubt West Indians like to entertain. And IPL is all about entertainment. But Pollard's action transgresses the thin line between fun and mockery.
And, 27-year-old Pollard, who is not new to controversies in IPL, could have done well to portray himself as a role model to the youngsters than mock umpires for having asked him to keep quiet.
Pollard would do better to take a leaf out of illustrious members of the Mumbai Indians management and two of the finest gentlemen the world cricket has ever seen, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble. Both the legends have played the game in the right spirit throughout their careers.
Sunday night's incident, incidentally, happened around the time the RCB's Australian left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc was about to arrive in Bengaluru for IPL-8.
Now, Starc and Pollard go a long way, don't they? Remember last year's MI-RCB clash at the Wankhede where Pollard seemed to hurl the bat at talkative Starc's direction and the Australian later saying he did not "plan on talking to him either".
One wonders what Pollard is up to next.