Picture Credit: Twitter
West Indies and Mumbai Indians player Kieron Pollard has recently got himself into a controversy on social media. The Trinidadian had called out former India batter Aakash Chopra on Twitter for overtly criticizing him for his poor form in the 2022 IPL season.
In a now-deleted tweet, Pollard had tagged Aakash Chopra and addressed his alleged motives for making such comments. He said, “Hope the fan base and followers increased @cricketaakash… keep it flowing .. #t20.!!” wrote Pollard in the deleted tweet.
The ex-India cricketer was talking about the possible retentions the Mumbai Indians could make for the next season. Hence while talking on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “I think we have seen the last of Kieron Pollard. INR 6 crores will be released if they don’t retain him. I think they can let Murugan Ashwin (INR 1.6 crore) go as well. I am not sure about Jaydev Unadkat (INR 1.3 crore) but they can definitely say bye-bye to Tymal Mills (INR 1.5 crore).”
The former Ranji Trophy winner also had also opined that young players should be given more chances in the team instead of Pollard earlier in the season as he isn’t offering a lot with the ball these days. “Kieron Pollard should go and Dewald Brevis should come in. How many chances would you give to Pollard? He has just not been scoring runs. His bowling could be useful on this surface but you wouldn’t pick him in the team for his bowling. So I think the time has come to say tata bye-bye to Pollard,” he added.
The Mumbai Indians have had a disappointing season as they just managed to win only four games and were also on an eight-game losing streak. Pollard, like Aakash Chopra mentioned, had also had a below-par season. He scored as he managed to score just 144 runs in 11 innings and was eventually dropped from the squad in the latter stages of the tournament.
In the bowling department, he got a chance to roll his arm in only six innings where he picked up four wickets with an average of 31.25 and an economy of 8.93 with best figures of two wickets while giving away just eight runs.
