Some teams click faster than some others: Kieron Pollard

Pollard’s quickfire 41 helped MI beat CSK last night

Mumbai Indians allrounder Kieron Pollard has emphasized on the fact that the players need more time to gel together as a team in franchise cricket. When asked about his side’s turnaround after a disastrous start to this year’s campaign, he pointed out that the ‘group of guys’ are meeting together just 3 to 4 days before the tournament which might not help in gaining early momentum.

"I don't think anything was lacking. This is franchise cricket. It is a group of guys coming together two or three days before a tournament," Pollard said. “Sometimes the team that adapts quickly builds momentum. We're not playing together as a team (for the rest of the year). New players come in every year. You have to give it time sometimes. Some teams click faster than some others."

The allrounder who scored a quickfire 17-ball 41 to help his side reach the final also stressed that the team needs to make good starts from next year. "In the last two years, Mumbai have been unable to start well but we've been able to finish well. One thing we need to work on is trying to start the tournament with a higher number of wins. Having said that if every year we are in this position, and,play like this and end up in the final, then we'll take it every year."

"I was disappointed after our first four games, lots of people wrote us off. So, in itself, maybe it was a blessing in disguise for us. As Ricky has been emphasizing, we haven't done much differently. All we have done is come out and try to play complete cricket.

"We look at it as different rounds in a boxing match. From the start of this month, when we had to win, we were taking it one round at a time. Getting that opportunity to finish second put us in a position where we had two games to get to the final. We spoke about continuing to be ruthless, and I think we played one of our most perfect games against Super Kings. There were a couple of dropped catches, there's always room for improvement, but having said that, coming out and winning here and going directly into the final from where we were is a marvellous achievement for us as a team."