Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes Mumbai Indians have found their replacement for Kieron Pollard in the form of Australia’s Tim David, who played an unbeaten knock of 45 runs off just 14 balls to help the five-time champions register their fourth victory in the league stage of the ongoing edition of IPL.
The Australian hard-hitting batter was at his absolute best in chasing 213 runs. He came to bat when Mumbai Indians required 60 runs in 26 balls against the formidable Rajasthan Royals bowling attack. David went all guns blazing to finish the game with three balls to spare.
In the historic 1000th game, with 17 runs to chase in the final over, many thought that Rajasthan Royals would come over the top, but the Australian finisher had different plans as he struck three consecutive sixes of Jason Holder to finish the game in style for Mumbai Indians.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar said that Tim David showed excellent composure to hold his nerve to finish the game and feels that he would potentially replace Kieron Pollard role’s in the team in the coming years.
“The composure shown by Tim David was incredible, he was seen as a potential Kieron Pollard replacement and he proved it. The match-winning impact and conversion of balls into runs make him better than the rest,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
Tim David possesses a terrific power-hitting game with a wide range of strokes in his arsenal. He has been a revelation for MI since his debut and is expected to fill the void left by Kieron Pollard. He showed glimpses of his abilities in the previous IPL season, scoring 186 runs in 8 innings at an average of 37 and a strike rate of 216.
Kieron Pollard with his explosive batting skills, pace-bowling ability, and top-quality fielding helped MI become champions in 2013,2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
Sanjay Manjrekar Heaps A Praise On Yashasvi Jaiswal For His Brilliance Against MI
Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Rajasthan Royals youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal for his breathtaking innings against the five-champions Mumbai Indians in a full-packed Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
The Mumbai-born youngster batted brilliantly against the less experienced Mumbai Indians bowling attack to score the highest individual score 124(62) by an uncapped player in the IPL to surpass Paul Valthaty’s previous record.
“It’s the best batting performance from a young Indian batter in the history of the IPL. We have seen Manish Pandey get a hundred; he was very young at that time. But to just see him bat, the size of his score his team’s score,” Sanjay Manjrekar added.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is currently the leading run scorer in the league with 428 runs in 9 matches at a strike rate of 159.70 from the nine matches in IPL 2023.