Kieron Pollard not the same player he was, he fails to outsmart bowlers now: Wasim Jaffer

The Caribbean batter Kieron Pollard has been one of the finest strikers in white-ball cricket. He played a key role to help the Mumbai Indians (MI) to secure five title victories, however, he announced his retirement last month and has lost his form in the ongoing IPL season. The batting all-rounder has scored only 129 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 109.32. In a latest interaction, former Indian cricketers Wasim Jaffer and Deep Dasgupta discussed the form of Pollard in this season.

Jaffer reckoned that Pollard is not the same player as he was a few years ago. He said that Pollard has not been able to provide a late flourish, which is expected from him in the final few overs. The former batter further added that Pollard has followed the same set of plans in each match, and has lacked the skill to outsmart the bowlers, which has been the main reason for his failure.

“Kieron Pollard is definitely not the same player he was a few years ago. If you see his performance in 2021, it was decent and nothing great. At his batting position, he has the responsibility of playing a small cameo but has not been able to do that this season. He has not made enough runs and has a strike rate of 109,” said Jaffer on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker.

“He doesn’t try to sweep or scoop the balls, and bats according to his plan. But in today’s time, you need to outsmart the bowlers, which is what other people are doing. If you get 20 balls in the final few overs, you need to score at least 35-40 runs,” he added.

Kieron Pollard is taking a lot of pressure this season: Deep Dasgupta

Dasgupta said that until the IPL 2021, Pollard had good support from Hardik Pandya to finish the innings, but he has been under pressure this season in the absence of experienced batters. He added that if Pollard can’t reinvent himself, he might lose his place in the MI side.

“Until the last edition, the responsibility to finish well for MI was divided between him and Hardik Pandya. This year, there has been no support and maybe taking a lot of pressure. Now the big question in front of him is, can he reinvent himself. If he doesn’t manage to do it, maybe it’s time up for him. MI has got Tim David as the finisher, who has done well in the last few matches and can don that role,” said Dasgupta.