“Both MI and me have a winning mentality. It’s a match made in heaven,” says Kieron Pollard
By MI New York Media
Kieron Pollard and the MI Family. If ever you’d need an example of a solid, long-standing relationship, it’s this. Having come into Mumbai Indians as a 22-year-old in 2010, to having retired in 2022 and become the batting coach for IPL 2023, to leading MI Emirates with good success in the inaugural season of the ILT20, to now doing the same at MI New York in the upcoming MLC, he’s been the one solid presence in the MI Universe. At the captains’ press conference before the tournament kicks off, he spoke about a bunch of stuff, from his MI bond, to the scouting, to cricket in the USA, to the local talent at MI NY. Excerpts ..
On the local American cricketers in the MI New York side
For us, from an MI perspective, we look at talent and their development. When you go around the world with cricket tournaments, the most important people are the domestic players. When you are able to identify the cream of the crop and give them the opportunity to now rub shoulders with guys who have played cricket around the world, it gives the knowledge to become better cricketers. Hopefully the guys at the end of this tournament become better cricket and the development of cricket in the USA starts here with us.
On the KP-MI bond
Words cannot describe the connection with the MI franchise. The brand believes in the winning mentality and that is what I have put in myself. It was match made in heaven. It has reaped the awards of winning championships. Now this is a time of transition to help others achieve this level of greatness and I am happy that I am in a position now to influence that change. Hopefully they can take it forward.
On MI NY’s scouting strategy
Overall, Mumbai have a lot of scouts going around looking at talent. That’s why we were able to acquire most of the international players, some we have played with and some against. But we have a solid plan as a franchise on how we want to develop talent around the world. It is something that started a couple of years back. When we get into a franchise tournament, it becomes easy now when we know the local players. We have our plans in place and we continue to roll on. Hopefully by the end of this tournament, we will see other players, and hopefully by next year, we have some fresh faces in our camp as well.
On why the MLC is likely to be more successful compared to other franchise tournaments tried in the USA in the past
I think the influence of the IPL franchises. The IPL has proven to be a successful tournament over the years. When you get these guys to sign in to a tournament like this, you know they will put in a hell of a lot into marketing the brand. It is a new venture in America as well, and they know how to get things on the ground. So I’m guessing, the backing of the bigwigs to market it properly and having some of the best players in the world participating in it, is going to help it big time. In the CPL, we have one or two games played here. Only when you play against India, because of the Indian community, you have crowds coming in at Florida. This is the start of something bigger, better and everyone is serious in growing the game in America. Hopefully, this will continue for the future generation.
On what the youngsters in the team can look forward to
For us, in our franchise, we look to develop them. We are all equal. We all get to share knowledge and get better as individuals. They can see what we have done to have been on this stage for so long because they want to be there. Just helping them with understanding cricket and different scenarios. We worry about this development. We want to make them as comfortable as possible. The franchise includes our families when we do things. They make it comfortable, and when you are comfortable, you open up as an individual and the learning takes place on both fronts.
LATEST
“It’s a tough pill to swallow”
It’s never easy knowing 266 wasn’t enough on the day. A record 29 sixes were hit by MI New York – the most ever in a T20 innings. On nights like these when lightning strikes twice, you don’t fight the powers. You just accept it wasn’t out night.“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Mark Boucher at the post-match press conference. “I think this ground is very small. In the beginning stages of the tournament, the wickets weren’t as good as they are now. It made bowling extremely tough. The dew factor at the backend of the game made bowling extremely tough for the bowlers and the fielders. But in saying that, we had our chances. If we had taken those chances, we could have built a bit of pressure. We knew when we scored our total, on a pitch that is good and small boundaries, if there was one team that could chase this down, it was these guys.”MI New York’s MLC 2026 campaign might have come to an end, but it was eventful and certainly memorable. We gained momentum and peaked at the right time, with all parts of the puzzle seemingly falling in place. “The one area where we’ve struggled throughout the tournament has been our batting. We haven’t got any flow in our batting in the tournament. Coming into the game today, even though we lost the last game, I thought there was something going there. Nicky’s (Pooran) knock was fantastic. Quinny (de Kock) got us off to a good start as well. Polly coming in. We put on a really good score and our batters did really well. In the middle stages of the tournament, our bowlers really kept us in the tournament,” he said. Whether it was Kieron Pollard pulling out matches from the dead, something he’s done for the Blue and Gold for over 17 years now, or whether it was Tajinder Dhillon’s cameos, or Rushil Ugarkar’s large-hearted bowling, Quinton de Kock’s typically Quinny-like starts, or a record-breaking final flourish, there certainly has been enough for us to celebrate. Let’s give it some time. When the disappointment withers, what will remain is pride, the pride we have in this side. This is MI city, this is MI team, we are MI New York. 17 Jul, 2026Celebrating a 106(33), that is enough on most days…
…Sadly, this wasn’t one of those. But when the dust settles and the disappointment of seeing a massive total being overhauled dies down, we’ll the pride in this MONSTER NICHOLAS POORAN knock. He loves these knockout games in the MLC, doesn’t he! Against the Washington Freedom in the Eliminator, he wasted no time settling in. The first ball was a single. Ball 2: SIXBall 3: SIXBall 4: SIXBall 5: FOURThis was followed by another 6, 4, 0, 6, 6, 6 to bring up his fifty off just 14 balls. None of them were mishits in any sense. Reading the bowling to perfection, he was happy to step out and go over long-off, pull away the short stuff, tonk them down the ground, cut them through point. Just peak, beast mode. He wasn’t backing down. Against Nikhil Chaudhary’s off-spin, he kept the fifth gear going. 6, 4, 1, 0, 4, 6, 4, 6 across two overs, and he had the fastest MLC century, off just 31 balls. He fell immediately after. All this inside the 12th over. Sheer madness was on display. Again, it might get forgotten given what happened in the second innings and how Washington chased down a mammoth total, but it was a knock for the ages nevertheless. Nicky P has added another feather that sits alongside his iconic 137* from 2023!16 Jul, 2026The Eliminator report: Crazy game, but ends in heartbreak :(
266 runs chased down. 51 sixes hit in the game. It’s probably a once in a lifetime moment, and the partnership of 241 runs in just 89 balls between Steven Smith and Andries Gous was again one of those, seen now, might never be seen again moments. Alas, it came against us in the Eliminator. A crazy game, but on the wrong side of the result.. Nicholas Pooran: 106 (33)“It wasn’t meant to be,” our skipper said at the post-match presentation. But his knock deserves all the appreciation. Five fours, 13 sixes, and a century off just 31 balls. It was peak Nicky P. Beast Nicky P. He was just unstoppable, smashing everything around for fun. Imagine a 24-ball 51 by Quinton de Kock felt like second fiddle! And then Polly goes wild!Pooran came, smashed, and was done by the 12th over. Kieron Pollard took it upon himself to carry the baton forward. With a 25-ball 64, he kept the shots coming, the sixes flowing, and ensured MINY finished strong. The final 266/9 came via Trent Boult and his 10-ball 22. That Smith-Gous stand On most days, a target of 267 is daunting enough. But lightning struck twice, first in the form of Pooran’s brilliant century, and then with Gous’ 51-ball 132 and Smith’s 48-ball 110. They rode their luck, but it just felt written in the stars. Ruing the missed chances 9.4: Smith gets a life 10.1: Smith gets put down again 10.6: Now Gous is dropped11.5: Both the bowler and the keeper miss a run-out chance In 13 balls, with four chances gone down, the signs were clear. It simply wasn’t our day. The batters then switched gears and went on a rampage, with 29 runs coming off the 13th over, 21 off the 14th and 31 off the 15th, virtually killing the game. This is where it ends. 2026 wasn’t to be. It’s a tough one to swallow. But once the dust settles, we’ll look back at how heartwarming this season has been with new heroes stepping up, older ones turning back the clock, and wins pulled off from nowhere. 15 Jul, 2026
