Shiamak Unwalla lists the top 10 Pollard moments in IPL.
Love him or loathe him, there is simply no escaping the enormous presence of Kieron Pollard in Indian Premier League (IPL). Playing for Mumbai Indians (MI), he recently found a novel way to shut himself up on the field — by taping his own mouth shut. Shiamak Unwalla lists the top 10 Pollard moments in IPL.
1: The mysterious auction, IPL 2010
Pollard made waves before he even played his first IPL match. After some stellar displays for Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2009, he became a household name for many. This made him hot property in the IPL 2010 player auction.
Six teams bid fiercely for Pollard: Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). That year, the IPL governing council had set a maximum price cap of USD 750,000 per player.
Anything above that, and the interested parties would have to play a “tie-breaker” in which they would write out a sum, and whoever wrote the most would walk away with the player. If that sounds confusing, it is because it was. Mumbai Indians won the yet undisclosed bid, and Pollard has played for them since.
2: Winning his first semi-final single-handedly, IPL 2010
Mumbai Indians reached the semi-final of IPL 2010, where they took on RCB. Batting first, MI meandered to a middling 144 in the 18th over when the fifth wicket fell. In walked Pollard, and in a space of less than three overs bolstered them to a match-winning score. He hit an unbeaten 33 off 13 balls with one four and three sixes as MI posted 184 for five.
His job was hardly over though. First, he dismissed Robin Uthappa, who was batting at a strike-rate of over 200. He helped run Rahul Dravid out in the same over, before snapping up the wickets of Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey. He was outstanding with the ball, taking three for 17 in four overs as MI reached their first final.
3: Pollard smashes CSK and takes the catch of the match, IPL 2013
It was the fifth match of IPL 2013 between arch rivals MI and CSK at Chennai. Despite early wickets, Dinesh Karthik scored 37 off 25 balls at No. 3, but MI soon found themselves in dire straits at 83 for six in 12 overs. Pollard then took centre-stage, hammering four fours and five sixes to remain unbeaten on 57 off 38 deliveries as MI posted 148.
In response, CSK never quite got going. Most of their batsmen got starts but then failed to kick on. Batting at No. 6, skipper MS Dhoni refused to give up. He kept clobbering the bowling from his end, scoring a 25-ball half-century. With 12 runs needed off the final over, Dhoni stepped out and hit Munaf Patel over midwicket.
The ball was sailing away, and even Danny Morrison on commentary was sure it would go over the ropes. But Pollard, the tallest fielder in MI, was patrolling that very boundary. He jumped a foot or so in the air, and took an excellent catch high above him to dismiss Dhoni.
Had it been any other fielder in MI, that would have been six and CSK would have won the game in all likelihood. As it happened, Dhoni was dismissed and CSK went down by nine runs.
4: Pollard drops Michael Hussey three times in three balls, IPL 2013
Pollard is capable of some superhuman feats on the field, having taken catches few would even attempt. The point above illustrates this. The sun must have risen in the west when MI played CSK at home in IPL 2013, because Pollard dropped three absolute dollies in three successive balls!
Mitchell Johnson was bowling to Michael Hussey, who played virtually the same cut shot on each occasion, only for Pollard to grass each of them. The catches were hardly difficult — certainly not for a fielder of Pollard’s calibre, but somehow he wasn’t just able to hold on.
5: Pollard stuns Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), IPL 2013
Pollard has shown time and again that he can turn the game on its head with either bat or ball, and most certainly on the field. MI took on SRH in Match 62 of IPL 2013 at the Wankhede. SRH was a surprise package that year, putting in some excellent performances so far. Their batting was clicking, and Shikhar Dhawan, Hanuma Vihari, and Cameron White did well once again.
SRH scored 178 for three, and with a good bowling attack looked set to defend it.
MI got a decent platform, and were going well till Sachin Tendulkar got retired hurt. They were soon 99 for three in the 14th over, with 79 runs needed in less than seven overs. In walked Pollard, and proceeded to play one of the most brutal innings in IPL. He absolutely massacred the SRH bowling, taking particular shine to Thisara Perera and Amit Mishra.
With 62 runs needed off the last four overs, he hit a four and three sixes off Perera. Mishra bowled the next over, and Pollard hit him for three sixes as well. With merely seven runs needed off the last over, Pollard hit Perera for two sixes off the first three balls to win MI the game with three balls to spare.
6: David Warner kisses, but Pollard doesn’t make up, IPL 2014
Pollard is never one to shy away from battle. However, in a rather humorous turn of events, he did show that he would shy away from kissing fellow cricketers on the field. Mumbai Indians were playing SRH, and Pollard was bowling to Warner. The two were having a few words with each other.
He bowled a dot ball that Warner tried to smash away, but he only got the bottom edge of the bat back to Pollard. As Pollard walked up to say something, Warner blew him a flying kiss. Pollard comically backed away and made an expression, not entirely unlike a child does when his mother kisses him in front of his friends. It was all in good fun though.
7: Pollard continues his love affair with SRH, IPL 2014
Pollard and SRH seem to have a love-hate relationship. Pollard blasted them in IPL 2013, and Warner gave him a flying kiss in IPL 2014. In that same match, SRH set a misfiring MI 173 to win. Pollard came in to bat at 31 for three and put on some useful runs with Ambati Rayudu. Pollard was on 19 off 23 balls at the start of the 12th over before launching into Amit Mishra, hitting him for a four and two sixes.
Rayudu was soon out, and at 108 for four in the 16th over, the time was right for Pollard to replicate his efforts of the last season. He completed his 50 off 37 balls before going berserk. Mishra was once again the target of a Pollard assault, getting hit for three sixes and a four in the 17th innings.
However, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Irfan Pathan bowled three tremendous overs at the death, with Pathan getting rid of Pollard in the final over of the game as SRH won by 15 runs.
8: Mitchell Starc vs Pollard, IPL 2014
Mumbai Indians were playing RCB at home in IPL 2014, and were coming on the back of a terrible performance in the UAE leg of the tournament which saw them lose five games in a row. Batting first, MI were 133 for four in the 17th over when one of the ugliest on-field clashes in IPL history marred proceedings.
Mitchell Starc was the bowler. The fourth delivery of the over was a sharp short ball to Pollard, who missed the pull shot. Starc proceeded to mouth off to Pollard, who gestured at Starc to go back to his bowling mark. Starc ran in to bowl the fifth ball, and Pollard backed away from the stumps before the ball was bowled.
However, Starc still bowled the ball at full pace, just wide of Pollard — who by now was at the end of the pitch. Pollard reacted angrily by swinging his bat at Starc. The bat flew out of his hand but luckily fell near his feet. The umpires, both captains [MI skipper Rohit Sharma was at the non-striker’s end at the time], and other players all got involved to ensure the two did not come to blows.
9: Pollard re-defines the in-out boundary catch, IPL 2014
Rajasthan Royals (RR) took on MI at Ahmedabad in Match 44 of IPL 2014. Hussey, Lendl Simmons, and Rohit Sharma took MI to 178 for three in 20 overs. Pollard was promoted up the order to No. 3 but ended up scoring only 14 not out off 12 balls as Rohit went ballistic at the other end, hitting a 19-ball 40.
RR were never really in the chase, as they kept losing wickets at crucial junctures. The moment of the match, though, came in the eighth over, bowled by Harbhajan Singh. Cooper was sent in at No. 5, and at 61 for three, he tried to pull Harbhajan over long on. Pollard was the fielder at the boundary, and once again came up with a mind-numbing effort.
He jumped and took the catch one-handed, but saw that he would go over the ropes, so he threw the ball back into the field of play, went over the ropes, recovered in time to run back in, and took the catch one-handed diving forward. It was an outstanding piece of athleticism and presence of mind that personifies Pollard.
10: Pollard shuts himself up with tape, IPL 2015
Always the first in line to show his cheekiness, Pollard was once again in the thick of things in RCB’s home match against MI in IPL 2015. MI had lost their first four matches and were in dire need of a win. Simmons, Unmukt Chand, and Rohit boosted MI to 209 for seven, and the ball was now in RCB’s court.
MI would have known that if any side in IPL could chase down 209 with ease, it would be one with Chris Gayle at the top, and Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the middle order. Pollard took it upon himself to keep Gayle quiet. Pollard kept going up to the big Jamaican juggernaut and talking to him.
What he said remains unknown but Gayle was clearly not amused. The umpires went up to Pollard and asked him to be silent. Pollard responded by putting tape across his mouth to help himself shut up. It was an amusing moment, but perhaps not in the best taste. It was an inherently Pollard moment though; one that will certainly be remembered, for better or worse.
(Shiamak Unwalla is a proud Whovian and all-round geek who also dabbles in cricket writing as a reporter with CricketCountry. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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