IPL: A look at Kieron Pollard's stellar IPL milestones
What's the story
Former West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard has been appointed as the new head coach of the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He takes over from Mahela Jayawardene, who parted ways with the franchise earlier this month. Pollard expressed his honor at taking on this role and stressed his strong bond with MI and its fans. On this note, we look at Pollard's stellar milestones in the gala competition.
Career highlights
Second-most caps for MI
Pollard's association with MI goes back to 2010 when he joined the team as a player.
He was a one-franchise man during his playing days, representing MI across 189 IPL games.
As per Cricinfo, only Rohit Sharma has more IPL caps for MI (236).
Meanwhile, Sunil Narine is the only overseas player with more IPL matches for a particular side than Pollard (202 for Kolkata Knight Riders).
Notably, Pollard was part of the team during each of its five title-winning seasons: 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
Feat
Only overseas player with this feat
Pollard amassed a total of 3,412 IPL runs at 28.67. This includes 16 fifties and a strike rate of 147.32.
2,982 of his runs have come while batting at five or lower.
No other overseas player has more runs in this regard.
In the overall list, Pollard is only behind MS Dhoni (3,683) and Ravindra Jadeja (3,004).
Pollard vs CSK
Special record versus CSK
Many of Pollard's best IPL knocks came against MI's arch-rivals - Chennai Super Kings.
He scored 583 runs across 23 innings in this regard at an average of 36.43 (50s: 4).
His strike rate of 171.97 against CSK is the second-highest for any batter with 550-plus IPL runs against a side.
Pollard is only behind his former West Indies teammate Chris Gayle, whose 797 runs against Punjab Kings came at a strike rate of 174.78.