Kieron Pollard took a dig on Twitter at Aakash Chopra following criticism from the former India opener, before deleting the tweet later.
The Mumbai Indians endured their most disappointing IPL campaign yet in the recently concluded 2022 edition, finishing at the bottom of the points table for the first time in 15 years, with just four wins from 14 league games. The five-time champions began with a string of eight back-to-back defeats, before winning four of the final six.
A major factor in MI’s underwhelming run was the lack of contribution from senior players in a transitioning side. While Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan failed to create an impact with the top, Jasprit Bumrah couldn’t quite get the desired support at the other end with the ball.
Kieron Pollard, the team’s designated finisher in an inexperienced line-up, could manage only 144 runs at 14.4, while maintaining an uncharacteristically low strike-rate of 107.46. He bagged four wickets from the six outings he bowled, while conceding runs at an 8.93 economy.
The 34-year-old, who had announced his international retirement midway through the competition, was left out of the MI XI in the league’s latter stages. With Tim David grabbing his opportunity, there have been debates over Pollard’s future with the franchise.
The former West Indies captain was criticized by Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel, citing uncertainty over his future. Pollard took to Twitter, taking a dig at Chopra in response, before deleting it later.
“Hope the fan base and followers increased @cricketaakash… keep it flowing .. #t20.!!” wrote Pollard in the deleted tweet.
In his video, Chopra had marked Pollard as one of the players MI should let go ahead of IPL 2023.
“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 ex-India cricketer said on his YouTube channel.
Earlier in the tournament, Chopra had stated that Pollard, who featured in each of MI’s six appearances in the final, should make way for youngsters in the XI.
“Kieron Pollard should go and Dewald Brevis should come in,” Chopra had said. “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.”
