Mumbai Indians batting coach is backing his batters to fire in unison in the high-voltage clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. In their opener, MI lost four wickets for just 48 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and it was uncapped batter Tilak Varma's unbeaten 84 that helped them post 171/7 on a batting track. Pollard feels that it is not a one-man job and everyone needs to contribute in order to start on a high.
“I believe all batters have to fire. I do not think we should not single out any individual. Cricket is played with eleven players, and again, the tournament has just started so everyone is just looking to start (on a) high…
"Yes we did not get off to a great start as a batting unit but in the end we managed a decent total in Bangalore. Let us see what happens since we are back at Wankhede,” Pollard said on the eve Indian Premier League’s (IPL) El Classico.
Pollard also had an answer to Suryakumar Yadav's critics. After bagging three consecutive golden ducks against Australia in three-ODI series, he failed to make a mark against RCB bowlers.
“We have no concerns on Surya’s form, again. I believe you guys make more of it than we do sometimes within the team set up.
"People have bad days and that is unfortunate as cricketers our bad days are highlighted and we keep speaking on and on about it rather than trying to look at the positive or what he has done over the past 18 months or so in cricket as an individual,” Pollard said.
“We do it on a day-by-day basis and the way he is striking the ball, the way he is training we have got confidence that he will do justice to his talent and we will continue to back him."
The new impact player rule has been a double-edged sword. For some teams it has worked while for others it has backfired. The former MI all-rounder is not looking too much into it and wants to focus on the playing eleven.
“To be honest I have not thought much about the impact player rule. A lot of thoughts have been flying around about it but for me you still have to go out and play cricket, impact or no impact.
"As players you have to make an impact on the field anyway. For us, it is about focusing on what needs to be done from every individual,” the 35-year-old said.
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