Former India opener Aakash Chopra got a tongue-in-cheek reply from former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard after he had opined on his YouTube channel that fans and followers might have seen the last of the Windies all-rounder in Mumbai Indians (MI) colors.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) finished at the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 table. They ended the campaign with four wins from 14 matches - similar to Chennai Super Kings (CSK)- but finished below CSK due to a poorer net run rate.
This was majorly due to the main pillars of MI batting Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Kieron Pollard not firing and Suryakumar Yadav only being able to play a handful of games due to injuries.
Pollard, in particular, was dismal as he made 144 runs in 11 matches at an average of 14.40 and strike rate of 107.46. He picked 4 wickets at an economy of 8.92. MI backed Pollard to find form, even benching young Tim David, who looked in good form and saved face for MI in the last stages of league matches.
“I think we have seen the last of Kieron Pollard. INR 6 crore 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),” Chopra had opined on his YouTube channel.
However, it seems Kieron Pollard didn’t take kindly to Chopra’s words as he, in a now-deleted tweet, took a subtle dig at the former cricketer telling him hope his followers and fans increased after what he said about the West Indian cricketer’s future in IPL.
“Hope the fanbase and followers increased @cricketaakash…. Keep flowing #t20!!” Pollard had posted on Twitter before deleting the tweet soon after.
Here is the screenshot of the tweet:
