Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Mumbai Indians (MI) had a terrible time in the ongoing IPL 2022 as they finished bottom of the table in the league phase with just four wins from 14 games.
One of the reasons behind MI’s horror run was the poor form of their veteran star Kieron Pollard. The West Indies giant, who recently announced his international retirement, had a disastrous season with the bat. In 11 matches, Polly could only manage to score 144 runs at a dreadful average of 14.40 and a strike rate of 107.46.
Now, for the next edition of the cash-rich league, the bigger question for the Mumbai-based franchise will be to decide whether they will retain the services of Pollard or look for future prospects. Speaking about the same, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckoned that MI will be most likely to release Pollard ahead of the IPL 2023.
“I think we have seen the last of Kieron Pollard. ₹6 crores will be released if they don’t retain him. I think they can let Murugan Ashwin (₹1.6 crores) go as well. I am not sure about Jaydev Unadkat (₹1.3 crores), but they can definitely say bye bye to Tymal Mills (₹1.5 crores),” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
Notably, Pollard has played 189 games for MI, scoring 3,412 runs at an average of 28.6, including 16 fifties. The Trinidadian has also taken 69 wickets, having joined the franchise back in 2010. Further, he won five IPL titles with MI, including back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020.
