Kieron Pollard retirement IPL: Who was Mumbai Indians batting coach before Pollard?

Former West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has bid adieu to the Indian Premier League as a cricketer bringing an end to one of the most cherished associations in the biggest T20 league across the globe.

It was way back in 2010 when Pollard had joined MI and has since managed to represent them in each of the 13 seasons. Pollard’s announcement has come hours before the deadline for teams to submit a list of retained players ahead of IPL 2023 auction next month.

Pollard, who had retired from international cricket earlier this year, was left out (rarely) of Indians’ Playing XI in an IPL 2022 league match against Chennai Super League to keep an eye on the future. With South Africa batter Tristan Stubbs replacing Pollard in the XI, the move had somewhat hinted at Pollard’s IPL future at this franchise.

An absolute IPL legend, Pollard is the 18th highest (fifth-highest among overseas batters) run-scorer in the history of the tournament. Pollard, who has scored 3,412 runs in 171 IPL innings at a strike rate of 147.32, had scored only 144 runs at a strike rate of 107.46 in 11 innings in the last season.

An archetype all-rounder, Pollard has also made notable contributions with the ball in the hand and as a fielder for Mumbai. Known more for his impact than the number of runs or wickets, Pollard had almost made a knack of guaranteeing Indians of at least a victory per season on his own.

Kieron Pollard retirement IPL

Who was Mumbai Indians batting coach before Pollard?

Part of MI Emirates’ squad for the inaugural season of ILT20 to be played next year, Pollard hasn’t entirely left MI. Readers must note that the 35-year old player has accepted the offer to become their batting coach in the IPL.

The development has it in it to end another long-standing association at the franchise. Much like Pollard, former India batter Robin Singh had also been with Indians as their batting coach for a long time now.

Singh’s departure isn’t the only change in Mumbai’s support staff before IPL 2023 as former South Africa wicket-keeper batter and head coach Mark Boucher has already replaced former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene as head coach at MI. For the unversed, Jayawardene has been given a global role by Mumbai keeping in mind both MI Emirates and MI Cape Town (SA20).