They Needed A Replacement For Me, I Gave Them Kieron Pollard's Name - Dwayne Bravo Reveals How He Was Responsible For Mumbai Indians Signing Pollard

Dwayne Bravo, the West Indies and Chennai Super Kings all-rounder, reveals that it was on his recommendation that the Mumbai Indians roped in Kieron Pollard for the third edition of the IPL way back in 2010.

Till then Dwayne Bravo himself was part of the Mumbai Indians squad and advised the franchise to go after his compatriot in the auction.

Pollard burst onto the scene in the now-defunct Champions League T20 tournament in the 2009/10 season where the right-hander, playing for Trinidad and Tobago, smashed 146 runs at a strike rate of 197.30 charging the side through to the final.

“When Mumbai Indians needed a replacement for me, I gave them Kieron Pollard’s name. When they tried contacting him, he was playing for a club, so I recommended Dwayne Smith and he became my replacement,” Dwayne Bravo told Cricbuzz.

“The following year, when it was the Champions League, I called Rahul (Sanghvi) and told, Pollard, he’s here. Come and sign him now before the tournament starts. Rahul and Robin Singh left Mumbai and came to Hyderabad, I’ll never forget they came with a contract which at that time was 200,000 USD.

“I called Pollard, who came downstairs and met them both in the lobby. He saw the contract. Now for s coming from Trinidad, as a 19-year-old, that was wow. He said, ‘Dwayne are you serious?” he further revealed.

You cannot see Mumbai Indians without Pollard today: Dwayne Bravo

Kieron Pollard has been a key part of the Mumbai Indians team since then – apart from Rohit Sharma, he is the only other player to have won the 5 titles with MI.

Pollard, who is now West Indies’ white-ball captain, has 3191 runs for MI, at a strike rate of 150.87, and played numerous match-winning blinders with the bat. Dwayne Bravo reckons a Mumbai Indians team is incomplete without Pollard in it.

“It so happened in that same tournament, Pollard was unbelievable. The entire world stood on their feet and applauded him. Everyone wanted to know who’s this kid. When a shout came around that Mumbai already signed him, it was forced to go into the mini-auction.

“IPL had put up a clause that no franchise can pay more than 750,000 USD to get him and eventually Mumbai won the bid. You cannot see Mumbai Indians without Pollard today,” the 37-year-old stated.

Both the stalwarts have also re-united for the West Indies side with the T20 World Cup in sight. West Indies is the only team to have won two T20 World Cups – they would be looking to ass the third later in the year.

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