When Brad Hogg Got A First-Hand Experience Of Kieron Pollard's Raw Power

Brad Hogg, former Australian chinaman bowler, recalled an instance from the 2012 edition of Indian Premier League when he was left awestruck by the brutal power of West Indies and Mumbai Indians all-rounder Kieron Pollard.

One of the fascinating aspects of Pollard’s batting is the sheer force that he exerts in his strokeplay. Brad Hogg experienced it first hand during the group-stage fixture against the Mumbai Indians back in the fifth season of the lucrative league.

Hogg, who was representing Rajasthan Royals at the time, recalled the instance when he was called up to put breaks on the rampaging Kieron Pollard. Hogg admitted that he was concerned about the West Indian’s big muscles and had to muster the courage to toss the ball up.

The leg-spinner bowled a googly and Pollard proceeded to smoke the ball straight down the ground with raw power, so much so, that he nearly ended up hitting his partner Ambati Rayudu in the process. Brad Hogg revealed that he was so scared of the power of his shot that he even though he had a chance of getting his wicket, he was more concerned about his hand and ultimately decided against going for the catch.

“It was game 12 in the IPL 2012 and we were playing the Mumbai Indians in the Wankhede Stadium. Rayudu and Pollard had been building a partnership and I had been brought into the attack. I was concerned about Pollard’s big muscles but with courage, I pitched the ball up and bowled a wrong-un and Kieron Pollard absolutely loved it,” Brad Hogg said on his Youtube channel.

He added- “He smashed the ball straight down the wicket and instead of coming to me, it went to his mate Rayudu who was backing up. But I was scared by the power of his shot. I could have got the wicket of Pollard but I was scared.”

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Kieron Pollard is a total team man- Brad Hogg

Kieron Pollard made his debut for the Mumbai Indians in the 2010 IPL edition and since then he has gone on to establish himself as the heartbeat of the set-up, so much so that even when he has failed to perform, the Mumbai Indians have backed them to hilt.

Brad Hogg said one of the major reasons behind Mumbai Indians investing heavily in the burly Jamaican is that he is a selfless player, who always tends to put the teams’ interest ahead of his individual goals.

“Why have Mumbai Indians invested so heavily in Kieron Pollard? Firstly, because he is a team man. He puts the team first; he has great team values and puts his body on the line. That diving catches to left and to the right, for a big man he is very athletic and he saves a lot of runs,” Hogg reckoned.

“The crowd gets involved whenever he is in action. And that is one of the major plus points for the franchise because it is not just about the cricket out there you need the entertainers to stand up and he is one of them.” he added.

Coming back to the game that Brad Hogg mentioned, Kieron Pollard ended up with a whirlwind 33-ball 66- an innings which included six fours and four sixes- and along with Ambati Rayudu [47 off 32 balls] helped the Mumbai Indians post 6-197, which they defended rather successfully thanks to six wickets between Munaf Patel [4-28] and Lasith Malinga [2-13] as RR were skittled out for 170. As far as Brad Hogg is concerned, the leg-spinner had a decent outing, finishing with figures of 2-31 in four overs.