Gentle giant ready to rise to the occasion

Published>Wed, Apr 21 10 10:20 AM

When the 6 feet 5 inch burly West Indian Kieron Pollard joined the Mumbai Indians at the start of the IPL III, the youngsters in the dressing room were overawed by his intimidating presence. But they soon discovered the friendly side of gentle giant, who happens to be the most popular foreign player in the Mumbai Indians squad.

This also has to do with the fact that the all-rounder has played a big role in the team's cakewalk into the semi-finals. After failing to be among runs in the early games, questions were asked about his form. But soon the Trinidadian played a knock that change it all.

He took only six balls against the Delhi Daredevils to bring back memories of his blistering innings in the Champions League that had got Mumbai interested in him.

In the next match, Pollard fired a seven ball-20 against Royal Challengers Bangalore on their home ground to get right into the form expected off the most expensive player in the tournament.

With Pollard batting lower down the order, the problem of quick runs in the later stages has been solved. The West Indian says that it was the backing of his team when he was out of form, that helped him to find his feet. "There was no pressure. I have the confidence to go out there and do it, so hats off to the team management for sticking by me," Pollard had said after his match-winning 13-ball 45 against Delhi.

Unlike his compatriot Dwayne Bravo, Pollard keeps to himself and is a man of few words. "He never talks when he is in the dug-out and remains focused. No one disturbs him," says a youngster in the side.

Pollard had confessed during a net session about how desperate he was to get his form back after the millions of dollars that was spent to buy him.

Would batting high up the order have made the difference or does he want to bat at his usual position of six-seven? "Batting early or batting late doesn't really matter to me - once the team is winning and I am contributing or whatever contribution I can make is enough for me. Getting more strike doesn't matter to me," he remarked.

Source: Web Search