IPL 2022: Has Tim David taken the baton from Kieron Pollard for MI?

As Tim David smashed four monstrous sixes in an over off arguably one of the best death bowlers in the country, T Natarajan, on May 17, the entire Wankhede crowd suddenly realized that they had a gem on their hands. The 26-year-old's fireworks took Mumbai Indians (MI) on the brink of a sensational win against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2022.

However, his run-out was a great metaphor for what could have been as far as MI are concerned. Despite snapping him up for a whopping INR 8.25 crore in the IPL 2022 mega auction, Mumbai benched Tim David after just two games.

Alarmingly, the five-time IPL champions even went into some of their league games with just 2-3 foreign players but refrained from using David's ability. It wasn't until they lost eight games in a row that they realized they had to bring the big-hitter in and give him ample game time.

Tim David was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) setup for the IPL 2021 season, but faced just three deliveries and was released. Perhaps not many realized what kind of ability he had and he showed it in other T20 leagues around the world.

The Singaporean-Australian cricketer has played 11 games in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) this season, scoring 278 runs at a mind-boggling strike-rate of 194.4. While Mumbai fans were in shock over the time period David was out of the IPL team, they finally got to see their star hammer some mammoth sixes in the tournament.

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Tim David showed MI what they were missing

Interestingly, Tim David's entry point in MI almost coincided with what has arguably been legendary all-rounder Kieron Pollard's worst IPL season. He scored just 144 runs in 11 games and that proved to be really costly for MI as they couldn't get the desired finish to their innings, especially when they were coasting in run-chases.

But Tim David showed exactly what he is capable of in similar situations by almost single-handedly winning them the game against SRH. The 26-year-old smashed 46(18) to prove that he belonged to the best T20 league in the world.

Not just against SRH, David has played a crucial role in all of MI's wins this season and fittingly so. His cameo against the Rajasthan Royals broke the chase open when MI were in a tricky situation. Especially that 97m six against Yuzvendra Chahal put all his doubters to bed who said he couldn’t play spin well.

MI's win against Gujarat Titans was remembered for the sensational final over by Daniel Sams, where he conceded just three runs. But that was probably the game where the baton was literally passed to David from Pollard.

While Pollard walked back after a disappointing knock, Tim David came out all guns blazing. His sensible knock of 44 helped MI post a competitive total on the board.

David probably saved his best for the last as his crucial 34(11) once again took MI out of a tricky situation. Pollard didn't play the final three games of the season for Mumbai, but David showed his pedigree in each of them.

The moment of reckoning will soon come for the five-time IPL champions as they try to have an honest conversation with the MI legend during the off-season. Pollard arguably no longer instills the same kind of fear in bowlers that Tim David has achieved this season and that could possibly be a huge sign for MI's future.

With the likes of Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs and Daniel Sams likely to be retained, it will be interesting to see whether MI hold on to Pollard. However, one thing is for certain is that Mumbai have found a new cult hero in David.