Published: Apr 10, 2018, 05:52 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 10, 2018, 05:52 PM (IST)
In the opening match of Indian T20 league, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma tried all sort of combinations and permutations in the bowling as well as batting front. None included Kieron Pollard. Despite not being part of bowling armoury or being a helping hand in batting, Pollard achieved a personal milestone. He became the first cricketer to play 400 T20 matches.
Despite Rohit’s various combinations and permutations, Chennai stole the game away from Mumbai. Pollard, however, assured he will help to revive Mumbai’s fortunes in the future games. During the same promotional event that also had Rohit on the side, Pollard said: “It was just the first game. You try to get the best combinations first-up. In the first game we (Mumbai Indians) tend to start slow. In T20 cricket, in a new team, new faces, guys have to get accustomed to each other. Hopefully we will bounce back and you will see me bowl and bat along with lot many other things.”
In the same match, interestingly, Dwayne Bravo and Pollard were seen sporting same number jersey. Pollard provided the reason same as that of Bravo: “It is just something that (Dwayne) Bravo and I came up with, he is the first bowler in T20 cricket to take 400 wickets, and I am the only player so far to play 400 matches. Being able to play 400 matches, I think that in itself is a milestone in a format in which none of us thought much how much we would end up playing when we started our career in cricket. That was the reason. As he (Bravo) has said, next couple of games we are going back to our original numbers that is 47 and 55.”
Pollard is also happy to see the young guns stepping up for Mumbai: “Watching them perform, such as the young Ishan (Kishan), young Mayank and the Pandya brothers as well, it shows that we have the enthusiasm. It is just a matter of building from there and hopefully change the momentum in the next game.”
