IPL 2019: The time has come for Mumbai Indians to look beyond Kieron Pollard

Another new season, and another dismal start for the Mumbai Indians. Year after year, it has become a pattern for the Mumbai-based franchise. Every year, they find it difficult to find the right combination from the very beginning of the tournament, and somehow they have earned themselves the tag of "slow-starters".

Once again, Mumbai Indians have had a stuttering start to their IPL campaign, and they have already lost two matches out of their first three. The 3-time IPL champions are currently languishing at the sixth position in the points table, and they need to turn the tides quickly in their favour if they have to climb up the table.

The biggest reason behind this problem of Mumbai Indians is their tremendous trust in their core players which sometimes disrupts the team balance. One such player in the team is Kieron Pollard. When Pollard first played for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2010 edition, he was a perfect T-20 player. His brute strength, ability to clear ropes at will, exceptional fielding skills, and handy medium-paced bowling made him an absolute T-20 beast. Sadly, he is not the same beast anymore and the time has finally come for Mumbai Indians to look beyond Kieron Pollard.

In the IPL 2018 edition, Pollard scored roughly 133 runs in 8 innings, averaging only 19. His strike rate was also meagre 133.0 which is way lower than his IPL career strike rate of 145.28. Meanwhile, he didn’t even bowl a single over in the whole tournament.

Despite this, Mumbai Indians trusted their old-warhorse and bought Kieron Pollard in the auctions ahead of IPL 2019 in whopping 5.40 Crore INR using their RTM card.

Pollard showed the glimpses of his brilliance in recently concluded PSL However he has again let down the Mumbai Indians in 3 matches he has played so far. He has only scored 33 runs in 3 innings at an average of 11 and a mediocre strike rate of just 117.85.

Pollard has been a loyal servant to Mumbai Indians over the years. He has won many matches for the franchise single-handedly in the past, but now Mumbai Indians have to look beyond him.

He has become more of a liability than an asset to the team. Moreover, he is disrupting the balance of the team as the Pandya Brothers are not getting proper opportunities, and they have to bat down the order. Also, he is not a bowling option to the captain anymore, so his slot can be used to draft in a capable all-rounder like Ben Cutting in the team.

Mumbai Indians look like a more balanced side without Kieron Pollard, and it is the high time for team management to take the tough decision to drop their superstar; otherwise, it might be too late for them to salvage the season.