Former Australian wrist-spin bowler Brad Hogg represented the Rajasthan Royals in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2012. He reminisces a shot Kieron Pollard played against him which was scary.
The 49-year-old described the incident on his YouTube channel while talking about the West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who has been with the Mumbai Indians for over a decade now.
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Hogg said on the YouTube channel, "It was game 12 in the IPL 2012 and we were playing the Mumbai Indians in the Wankhede Stadium. Rayudu and Pollard had been building a partnership and I had been brought into the attack. I was concerned about Pollard’s big muscles but with courage I pitched the ball up and bowled a wrong-un and Kieron Pollard absolutely loved it"
"He smashed the ball straight down the wicket and instead of coming to me, it went to his mate Rayudu who was backing up. But I was scared by the power of his shot. I could have got the wicket of Pollard but I was scared," he added.
Mumbai Indians batted first in the game Hogg is talking about and scored 197/6. Pollard built a 96-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu during his innings of 64 runs off 33 balls. The Australian finished his 4 overs with figures of 2/31.
Rajasthan Royals were skittled out for 170 in 19.4 overs as Pollard took 4/44 with the ball and was undoubtedly the 'Man of the Match'.
The left-arm wrist-spin bowler who also played for Kolkata Knight Riders, went on to put forward his views on why the Mumbai Indians have kept Pollard in their side for all these years and what he brings to the table.
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He said, "Why have Mumbai Indians invested so heavily in Kieron Pollard? Firstly, because he is a team man. He puts the team first; he has great team values and puts his body on the line. That diving catches to left and to the right, for a big man he is very athletic and he saves a lot of runs."
"The crowd gets involved whenever he is in action. And that is one of the major plus points for the franchise because it is not just about the cricket out there you need the entertainers to stand up and he is one of them," he concluded.
