'Come and sign him now before the tournament starts': How Dwayne Bravo convinced Mumbai Indians to sign Kieron Pollard
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo revealed a fascinating story about Mumbai Indians and Kieron Pollard and how it was him who played a role in the franchise acquiring the big-hitting West Indies all-rounder.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo revealed a fascinating story about Mumbai Indians and Kieron Pollard and how it was him who played a role in the franchise acquiring the big-hitting West Indies all-rounder back in the year 2010. Bravo had featured for Mumbai Indians in the first two editions of the IPL back in 2008 and 2009 before joining Chennai Super Kings the next year, and MI, without Bravo, were in need of an equally effective replacement.
Initially, MI signed another WI all-rounder Dwayne Smith, but Pollard, who was making waves in the West Indies domestic circuit was on everyone's radar. At the 2010 IPL auction, MI, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders came up with some aggressive bidding to acquire Pollard, with the Mumbai-based franchise finally getting a grab of him. However, all this couldn't have been possible without Bravo.
"When Mumbai Indians needed a replacement for me, I gave them Kieron Pollard's name. When they tried contacting him, he was playing for a club, so I recommended Dwayne Smith and he became my replacement," Bravo had told Cricbuzz.
"The following year, when it was the Champions League, I called Rahul (Sanghvi) and told, Pollard, he's here. Come and sign him now before the tournament starts. Rahul and Robin Singh left Mumbai and came to Hyderabad, I'll never forget they came with a contract which at that time was 200,000 USD. I called Pollard, who came downstairs and met them both in the lobby. He saw the contract. Now for s coming from Trinidad, as a 19-year-old, that was wow. He said, 'Dwayne are you serious?"
Pollard went on to become one of the biggest signings for Mumbai Indians. The all-rounder has been with the franchise since the last decade and has scored 3191 runs from 171 matches with 16 half-centuries. Over the years, he has scored many a match winning knock for his team as MI went on to become five-time champions.
"It so happened in that same tournament, Pollard was unbelievable. The entire world stood on their feet and applauded him. Everyone wanted to know who's this kid. When a shout came around that Mumbai already signed him, it was forced to go into the mini-auction," Bravo said
"IPL had put up a clause that no franchise can pay more than 750,000 USD to get him and eventually Mumbai won the bid. You cannot see Mumbai Indians without Pollard today."