Pollard ‘sick and fed up’ of people criticising Hardik Pandya after MI suffers fourth loss
Pollard rated Pandya as one of the great “all-rounders” India has ever produced, and believed that fans will ‘sing praises for him’ soon.
In a thriller match, Kane Williamson-led SunRisers Hyderabad defeated Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians on the final ball of the match with a wicket to spare in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
SRJ opener Shikhar Dhawan (45) gave his team a brisk start with his bat. But Mumbai Indians’ Mayank Markande shattered SRH’s strong batting line-up with his bowling and brought MI back into the game. However, SRH batsman Deepak Hooda (32) took the charge of SunRisers and guided them to victory.
In the nerve-wracking match, SRH’s bowlers should be credited for restricting the opposition to just 147 runs.
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In the absence of SRH’s vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Afgan teen sensation Rashid Khan did really well to put brakes on the MI players. Khan had given only 13 runs in his four-over spell and claimed one wicket that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.
Talking to media at the post-match conference, Rashid said, “It was a good performance to restrict them to under 150. It was a good bowling effort, all the boys bowled really well. Dot balls are crucial in such a short format. That was the plan to bowl as many dot balls as possible. That was the message from the management to go and enjoy yourself – that’s what I did. I just try my best to bowl in good length areas and mix it up for the batsmen. As he’s in his stance, I can see where he’s trying to hit.”
“We are always having fun when (we) are there in the center. Against Pollard I did (that) in the Big Bash (League) as well so… we (would) have some good conversation which makes the game more entertaining. People would watch it and get fun from that. That was the plan, to go against him very aggressively and try to (get) him to make some mistake and get his wicket because his wicket was very crucial that time. He is a kind of player who can take the game away from you at any stage,” Rashid Khan added.
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