Former West Indian skipper Darren Sammy heaped praise on Kieron Pollard after his swashbuckling performances with the bat in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2020. Sammy gave an insight into the batting technique used to yield the long handle. He explained the art of hanging back and hitting huge sixes. He also explained what makes Andre Russell and Pollard the most feared batsmen in the modern-day cricket.
Pollard has been in fine form with the bat and strengthened the Mumbai Indians’ middle-order with his ability to swing big at the death overs. MI all-rounder has hit 10 sixes so far in four matches. Royal Challengers Bangalore was at the receiving end of the Pollard-storm earlier this week when he scored a 24-ball 60 to take the game into a Super Over.
On Thursday, he tore apart Kings XI Punjab bowling line-up during his 20-ball 47, which included three fours and four towering sixes. Pollard’s big-hitting helped Mumbai leapfrog everyone to the top of the IPL points table.
Decoding the six-hitting ability, Sammy told the Indian Express, “Against the slow bowlers who change their pace, you didn’t want to commit. So I would deliberately keep my weight on the back foot. You can adjust better. When they bowl that slower ball, you are not committing early. If you look at Kieron Pollard or Andre Russell, you can see them take that step back deep in the crease and waiting. That’s something that works.”
{{/usCountry}}Decoding the six-hitting ability, Sammy told the Indian Express, “Against the slow bowlers who change their pace, you didn’t want to commit. So I would deliberately keep my weight on the back foot. You can adjust better. When they bowl that slower ball, you are not committing early. If you look at Kieron Pollard or Andre Russell, you can see them take that step back deep in the crease and waiting. That’s something that works.”
{{/usCountry}}Pollard was adjudged Man of the Match for taking Mumbai to a par score of 191/4 in allotted 20 overs. He looked relieved after taking his team home after losing the Super Over against RCB.
“Feels good. Obviously, we were on the losing end last game so we wanted to come out and get over the line. After 15 overs we had 100 or so so we needed to step it up,” said Pollard.