Mumbai Indians pillar Kieron Pollard owns Punjab Kings; Big Man not fretting over T20 WC : Rashtra News
Mumbai Indians (MI) put on a clinical show with both bat and the ball as they defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six wickets in Abu Dhabi.
MI chased the target of 136 in 19 overs with the loss of just 4 wickets. “To be honest, World Cup is irrelevant at this point of time, we are playing the IPL 2021 tournament. When you are in a tournament as an individual, you look to think about present and not look too far ahead.
It is a matter of giving all the guys confidence and finding the best solutions. These are guys that have done the job for us, people on the outside do not understand what cricketers go through.
”Why think about the T20 World Cup when we are playing the IPL. Let’s deal with the present, everyone is going on about the pitches, but you cannot get what you want all the time. As a professional athlete, you need to adapt. For me, personally it is about staying in the present and dealing with what is in front of us as a team,” he added.
Hardik Pandya starred with the bat as all-rounder smashed unbeaten 40 to carry his team over the victory line. Saurabh Tiwary and Kieron Pollard also played important innings of 45 and 15 respectively for the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Pollard also scalped two wickets for the defending champions as they restricted PBKS to 135. “What we have is belief is one another and we believe we can get out of any situation. So, I think
biggest thing for us is belief and we have put ourselves in this situation and the players and the management is sticking together,” said Pollard.
On an individual level, Pollard joined the 300th T20 wicket club, and the landmark came when he dismissed KL Rahul as the West Indian all-rounder stated this achievement as ‘landmark and very special’.
Notably, Pollard added another feather to his illustrious cap as he became the first player in T20 cricket history to aggregate 10,000 runs and 300 wickets.
The West Indian all-rounder achieved this feat while playing for Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) encounter against Punjab Kings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Pollard who was bowling the 7th over of the innings, removed his compatriot Chris Gayle for the 299th T20 wicket. Later in the same over he achieved the 300 wickets mark in T20 after he dismissed PBKS captain KL Rahul. Rahul walked back after scoring 21 runs while Gayle returned on one.
Pollard was adjudged Player of the Match and during the post-match presentation, he said: “It is very important to get my 300th wicket. I know what I can do in all the facets of the game. I will be more than happy to do what the team needs of me. You try and watch and target whom you can target and not.
“I enjoyed my 300th wicket which was KL and obviously it’s a landmark and very special. For me, it’s just trying to practice and it’s all about practicing and batting according to the situation. I admit that I don’t have pace, swing and seam but I can use my brain and get the job done.
For us, it’s very important to get these 2 points and hopefully, this will be the much-needed spark in the dressing room,” he added.
Mumbai Indians (MI) put on a clinical show with both bat and the ball as they defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets.
MI chased the target of 136 in 19 overs with the loss of just 4 wickets. Hardik Pandya starred with the bat as allrounder smashed unbeaten 40 to carry his team over the victory line.
Saurabh Tiwary and Pollard also played important innings of 45 and 15 not out respectively for the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Pollard also scalped two wickets for the defending champions as they restricted PBKS to 135.
Rohit Sharma, the MI skipper said: “We do agree that we didn’t play to our potential, but it’s a long tournament and we need to stick to our plans and reading the situations is very important and we can take a lot of confidence from that. Important not to lose the guard.
The way he (Hardik) understood the situation was very crucial from a team’s perspective, it’s important for him to spend the time in the middle as he’s coming back from an injury.
“He (Pollard) is one of our key players, a crucuial part of MI for so many years. He will be happy with taking the ‘Man of the Match’ for his bowling performance,” he added.
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( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a www.mykhel.com feed.)
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