Leg and off: Did Mumbai Indians give up on Kieron Pollard too early?

Kieron Pollard set The Hundred stage ablaze as he smashed Rashid Khan for five sixes off five balls in the match between the Trent Rockets and the Southern Brave on August 10. Pollard had been struggling at one stage with six runs off 14 balls, but managed to turn it on at the right time.

His knock of 45 off just 23 balls helped the Southern Brave win a thrilling game by just two wickets and a ball to spare. Pollard also won the Player of the Match award for his sensational performance.

Every time Kieron Pollard plays a blinder of a knock, there seems to be a famous debate that resurfaces - did Mumbai Indians give up on Kieron Pollard too early? Did the legendary Mumbai Indians all-rounder deserve more time than he eventually got? Was retiring from the IPL and becoming MI's batting coach a hasty decision?

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Mumbai Indians showed loyalty for what Kieron Pollard had done for them

Kieron Pollard is among the best players to have ever donned Mumbai Indians' blue and gold and is arguably among the top five overseas players to feature in the IPL. The man for the big occasion, Pollard often stepped up in big games for MI, especially against their arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings.

Ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction, Mumbai Indians had a plethora of star-studded names to choose from the incredible squad that they had assembled. With the Indian retentions being Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah, the debate was about which overseas player MI needed to retain.

The likes of Quinton de Kock and Trent Boult were instrumental in Mumbai's previous title win in 2020 and they could have easily opted to retain either of them. Kieron Pollard had a sub-par IPL 2021 season with 245 runs from 14 games at a strike rate of just over 148. However, they stayed true to the loyalty with which Pollard had served the franchise and retained the star all-rounder.

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The disastrous IPL 2022 season

The IPL 2022 season proved to be Kieron Pollard's last as he had pretty shocking returns for a player of his stature. In 11 matches, Pollard scored 144 runs at a poor strike rate of 107.46. He looked far from his vintage best and it came at just the wrong time for the Mumbai Indians, who lost their first eight games of the season.

The season also saw the emergence of Tim David and there seemed to be a passing of the baton from Pollard to David as the Australian had some impressive performances as MI's finisher.

While Pollard would not have had a lack of suitors had he made himself available at the IPL 2023 auction, he mentioned in his retirement statement that he couldn't imagine playing for anyone else apart from MI. Mumbai made it to the Qualifier 2 in IPL 2023 on the back of their batting might, showing that they didn't really miss Pollard.

Occasional poor performances from the MI players and heroics from Pollard in other leagues would bring up this debate time and again, but as far as Mumbai Indians and Pollard are concerned, the time was right to usher in a new era as all good things eventually come to an end.