CLT20 2014: Kieron Pollard likely to captain Mumbai Indians following Rohit Sharma's injury

Kieron Pollard

Mumbai Indians are most likely to announce Kieron Pollard as their captain for the Champions League T20 tournament, which begins on September 13, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who has been ruled out due to an injury. The 27-year-old injured his right index finger during the 2nd One Day International in the ongoing bilateral series against England, in Cardiff. 

Rohit led Mumbai to their first ever Indian Premier League crown in 2013, before guiding them to the Champions League title, as well, last season. Pollard, on the other hand, is fresh from his Caribbean Premier League [CPL] title winning stint with Barbados Tridents. 

"While Pollard is an automatic choice in the MI set-up, his success as the captain having led the Barbados Tridents to title triumph in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will go in his favour. But Harbhajan should also be sounded out," a source was quoted saying to PTI.

Experienced off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is least interested to take up the responsibility, reports NDTV. It can be noted that the ‘turbanator’ was the captain of the Mumbai-based franchise’s victorious CLT20 run in 2011. Lasith Malinga, the skipper of Sri Lanka’s World T20 winning side in 2014, who led Southern Express to their domestic T20 title last season, is the other potential option.

Rohit was the second-highest run getter for his team in IPL 2014 and has been one of the top performers in the format at all levels, be it international or domestic. The management is expected to name a replacement for the right-hander very soon.