Hello Yellow Army!
Remember the open question I left in my last Pollard story, whether he would actually play for Joburg Super Kings or not? Well, now we have the answer, and it is a "no".
As per Cricbuzz, Kieron Pollard has told the JSK management that he will not be available for the upcoming SA20. This came just one day after Mumbai Indians officially made him their head coach.
What happened
A day ago I wrote about how Pollard became MI's head coach, only 17 days after JSK bought him at the SA20 auction. It looked like a mess waiting to happen, and Pollard seems to have decided to clean it up himself.
Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of CSK and all the Super Kings franchises, confirmed it to Cricbuzz. He said Pollard has let them know he can't play for JSK, and that "we will now look for a replacement."
One thing which is nice to know is that MI were not the ones who blocked it. According to Cricbuzz, an MI source said it was totally up to Pollard and that they had given no instructions. So it looks like everybody behaved sensibly here, and the decision came from Pollard himself.
The MI Cape Town awkwardness
Here is the funny part. In the SA20, MI also own a team, MI Cape Town. So if Pollard had played for JSK, he would have been the head coach of MI in the IPL while playing against an MI-owned team in the SA20, wearing yellow. Imagine the confusion! Now that does not happen.
It is even funnier because MI Cape Town had the first chance to keep him. At the SA20 auction earlier this month (full details in my JSK auction report), JSK got Pollard for R1.5 million after MICT did not bid for him. They bought Shimron Hetmyer for the same R1.5 million instead, which surprised a lot of people.
Cricbuzz says an MI source explained it like this: Hetmyer's name came up first in the auction order, both of them play the same middle-order role, and MICT could not wait for Pollard with no guarantee that nobody else would bid. Fair enough, but JSK were the ones who gained from it, at least for a few days.
Pollard and his MI family
Cricbuzz also points out that this is a big change from his usual pattern. Pollard had never played for a franchise outside the MI family in any league where MI have a team. He retired from the IPL a couple of years back, but he kept playing for MI-owned sides around the world, like MI Cape Town, MI New York and MI Emirates. The only exception is the CPL, where he plays for Trinbago Knight Riders, and MI have no team there. He is also the head coach of MI London in The Hundred.
So JSK was going to be the first time he turned up in a different jersey in an MI league. Maybe that is why it did not work out.
Quick note on Hardik and Rohit
Cricbuzz adds that MI finalised Pollard for the head coach job about three to four days before the announcement, and he was called to Mumbai for talks on Thursday. MI believe that as a franchise legend, he commands the respect of everyone in the dressing room, even the seniors.
The report also says he is close to Hardik Pandya, who is believed to be on the trade block, and to Rohit Sharma, at a time when MI are looking for a captain. So whether this changes anything on trades or captaincy is something people are now wondering about. That is just speculation at the moment, so don't take it as news.
What JSK do now
SA20 Season 5 runs from 17 January to 21 February, so we have some time to find a replacement for Pollard, who was bought for R1.5 million.
My take is that this will not hurt JSK that much. We already have plenty of finishers and all-rounders in Jason Holder, Donovan Ferreira, Dian Forrester, Jason Rowles and the wildcard Jamie Overton, so the lower order is well covered.
What we can look for is a middle-order power hitter, somebody like Shimron Hetmyer, who can take the game away in the middle overs, and then just continue with the squad we have. I will keep you updated on the Super Kings Player Tracker as soon as JSK name someone.
For more on the SA20 squad, see my JSK retained and released players list, and Pollard's auction entry on the tracker.
Credit: this story is based on a Cricbuzz report. Quotes and details attributed to MI sources and Kasi Viswanathan are from that report.
Stay healthy stay yellow.