[Watch] "How can I forget?"- An emotional Kieron Pollard reacts on completing 14 years with MI franchise
Exactly 14 years ago on this day, Mumbai Indians (MI) signed a young West Indies all-rounder with the name Kieron Pollard in the IPL 2010 auction. While he always had the potential to become a world-class player, not many would have envisaged just how incredible his career would be.
Pollard almost instantly became one of the main players for MI and won a staggering five IPL titles with the franchise. He decided to hang up his boots as a player from the IPL in 2023 and joined MI as the batting coach.
Kieron Pollard recently replaced an injured Rashid Khan to lead the MI Cape Town (MICT) team for the SA20 2024 season. Ahead of their game against the Paarl Royals on Friday, January 19, Pollard opened up about his emotions on having completed 14 years with the MI franchise. Here's what he said:
"14 years..MI player..19th of January, 2010..how can I forget? Let's see what happens."
Here's the video:
Pollard was in massive demand during the 2010 IPL auction. After emptying the whole kitty of $750,000, it was a tie-breaker among four teams with an undisclosed amount, helping Mumbai Indians clinch the all-rounder. They fended off competition from Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Lasith Malinga is delighted with Kieron Pollard's presence for MI Cape Town
Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard have arguably been the two most iconic overseas players to have represented MI. The former Sri Lankan speedster, who is also MICT's bowling coach, is delighted to have Pollard leading the team and bringing all his experience into play.
Here's what Malinga said in his column for MICT:
"Pollard is a highly experienced player in T20s. He is a calm guy, he analyses the game well. With Mumbai Indians, he would handle the pressure situations very well while batting. He is really happy and we are very happy for him."
MICT narrowly lost to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape by four runs in their previous SA20 game. They will hope to get their second win of the season under their belt against the Paarl Royals, who are yet to lose a game.