Mumbai Indian won their third IPL trophy in the year 2017. One of the major reasons for Mumbai’s success was their strong middle-order core. The core formed of Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard provided Mumbai quick runs very often. They made sure that Mumbai gets to the competitive score in the first innings and helped Mumbai chase the total in the end.

This season, however, their wheels came off. Despite the openers getting runs consistently, the middle order failed to make the most of it. This kept pushing Mumbai backward. The failure that caught the mass attention was that of Kieron Pollard. He was unable to get a move on and was struggling for runs.

Soon, Mumbai was almost forced to drop Kieron Pollard as they were under severe pressure with consecutive losses. MI then won the first match where they dropped Pollard and hence continued letting him sit out. He was brought back when Evin Lewis was injured and again dropped once Lewis was fit.

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In the match yesterday against Kings XI Punjab, West Indian all-rounder was brought back in the team citing lack of opportunities handed to Duminy. Finally proving his worth and experience, Pollard smacked 50 in 22 balls when Mumbai needed the most. The innings helped Mumbai Indians win against KXIP and kept their hope of qualifying for the playoffs alive.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma spoke about Pollard in his post-match interview. He said, “Pollard has always been a match winner for us. Leaving him out was always a tough decision. We thought if JP Duminy is not getting opportunities down the order and that’s why we brought him back. He was very upset when he was left out and I was looking for that one opportunity to bring him back. He always stands up in the pressure situations.”

The defending Champions will now play against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla. This will be a must-win match for Mumbai else they will be dependent on other results.