IPL 2023 | Kieron Pollard announces retirement to take over as Mumbai Indians batting coach

11/15/2022

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Kieron Pollard has announced he is bringing down the curtains on his time as a player in the Indian Premier League and will instead take over as the batting coach at Mumbai Indians. The West Indian is one of the few players to have represented a single franchise and leaves as a five-time champion.

Kieron Pollard's tryst with the Mumbai Indians has come to an end after 13 glorious years, albeit just as a player. The Caribbean all-rounder has announced the club had decided to release him as a player, thereby provoking him to hang up his boots in the franchise competition given his support for the five-time champions of the tournament. Pollard further confirmed he will stay a part of the Mumbai Indians family as a batting coach for the upcoming edition as well as represent sister franchise MI Emirates on the field at the ILT20 in the United Arab Emirates next year.

Pollard joined the Indians in 2010 following an intense bidding war and has since won seven trophies with the franchise, including five IPL titles and two Champions Trophies. He was particularly instrumental in their first success in 2013 where his contributions in the final against the Chennai Super Kings earned him the man of the match award. In 189 matches, Pollard accumulated a mammoth 3,412 runs at a strike rate of 147.32 while also scalping 69 wickets. He has an impressive 16 half centuries to his name, with a high score of 87* coming two years ago in 2021. He also sits fifth on the list for the most sixes in the competition with 223.

This is set to be Pollard's first coaching stint and it remains to be seen how he fares in this new chapter of his cricketing career.