Kieron Pollard: The faded star?

Kieron Pollard is one of the few players to have scored a century as well as take 4-for in the shortest format of the game. He was one of the hardest hitters of the ball and has been known to bail his team out of trouble on numerous occasions. A star player and a champion in the truest sense, Pollard's form has degraded in the last few years to such an extent that he is being called a liability on the team.

With scores of just 7, 5 21, 7, 37, 12, 2 and 1 in his last few matches, Pollard is now a fading player. He has stopped bowling for Mumbai altogether and plays just as a middle-order batsman. He once had the charm to single-handedly win games for his team but now, he isn't even striking at a run a ball. It is not just this year that Pollard's form has fallen. Even in 2018, his numbers were not striking at all.

He scored 133 runs at an average of 19 in the eight matches that he played before he was dropped from the team. He also failed to make any impact on the team and didn't bowl even a single over in the whole tournament. His performance in 2017 was equally poor if not worse. He scored 385 runs in the tournament after playing 17 matches which shows how poor his average was.

In 2019, Mumbai Indians had faith in their core player and despite his poor form even in the PSL, they played him ahead of in-form Ishan Kishan. Pollard also had the perfect chance to prove his worth to the team when Mumbai were 45-3 and were chasing a massive 213. He could have struck gold there by winning the match for his team but he failed to string a partnership with Yuvraj Singh and got out on just 21.

However, that was his best performance this season as he has registered scores of 7 and 5 in the two other matches that he played.

Pollard might have just lost his charm and his ability to win matches for his team. His inclusion into the team has been taken for granted. He doesn't look too energetic even on the field and isn't that great at saving runs for his side also.

With excellent talent already present in the team in the form of Ishan Kishan and Aditya Tare, and many more, Mumbai Indians should get over Pollard and look for better players in their team as his performance creates an adverse effect on the team and better players should be included in the squad for a better balance and better results for Mumbai Indians.

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