Former West Indies cricketer Kieron Pollard recently announced his retirement from IPL. The all-rounder has been appointed as the batting coach for his Mumbai Indians franchise. Pollard also revealed that he will play for the MI Emirates in the UAE International T20 League.
Mumbai Indians cricketer Kieron Pollard retires from the Indian Premier League.
The all-rounder penned down an emotional note on his Twitter handle and thanked the Mumbai Indians team. He has been appointed as the batting coach of the MI franchise. Pollard penned a lengthy post on his official Twitter handle.
“It hasn’t been the easiest decision to make as I intend to keep playing for a few more years, but following discussions with Mumbai Indians, I have decided to call time on my IPL career. I understand that this incredible franchise which has achieved so much needs to transition and if I’m no longer to play for MI then I cannot see myself playing against MI either. ‘Once an MI always an MI’,”
Pollard wrote.
He added,
“This is not an emotional goodbye to MI however as I have agreed to take up the role of batting coach in the IPL as well as play with the MI Emirates. This next chapter of my career is genuinely exciting and allows me to transition myself too from playing to coaching,”
Pollard also thanked the coaches and expressed his gratefulness and appreciation towards the franchise owners.
“Most sincerely, I express my deep appreciation to Mukesh, Nita, and Akash Ambani for the tremendous love, support, and respect I have always felt and for the confidence, they placed in me. I recall our first encounter when they welcomed me with open arms saying, “We are family”. Those were not just mere words, but demonstrated by their every action throughout my time with Mumbai Indians,”
He added further.
💙 #OneFamily @mipaltan pic.twitter.com/4mDVKT3eu6
— Kieron Pollard (@KieronPollard55) November 15, 2022
The former West Indies cricketer has been one of the most popular and reputed players to play in the IPL. He has been part of massive successes in the 13-year-long journey with Mumbai Indians. Keiron Pollard has won five IPL titles and two Champions League with the franchise. Thanking Pollard for his huge contributions, Mumbai Indians shared a picture of him and captioned it,
“THE LLORD has WON IT ALL”.
🙏𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕃𝕃𝕆ℝ𝔻 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗡 𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗟𝗟 🏆#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians @KieronPollard55 pic.twitter.com/VPWTdWZEdH
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 15, 2022
The deadline for the IPL 2023 players’ retention is 15th November and teams have to submit their retention list on or before the deadline. Mumbai Indians have also traded Australian pacer Jason from the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Jason Behrendorff was with Rohit and led the team in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
He is coming back after 3 seasons. Undoubtedly, Kieron Pollard has been a prominent part of Mumbai Indians’ five IPL title wins. He made his IPL debut in 2010 and has played for the Mumbai franchise since then. Pollard was signed for an undisclosed amount through a tiebreaker in 2010.
A lot of cricketers and prominent celebrities penned down messages for pollard including master blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
At @mipaltan there is never a goodbye, Polly.
Congratulations on becoming the new batting coach for the MI franchise.
Your presence will be a big influence for all the boys in the dugout. https://t.co/mpxWr4csrD
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) November 15, 2022