Blitzkrieg: Shepherd’s 10-ball 39 took the sport away from the Capitals.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
‘Pollardesque’ is a time period added to the IPL dictionary, thanks to the burly Trinidadian’s power-hitting on the Wankhede Stadium from 2010 until 2022. No marvel then that Kieron Pollard – now Mumbai Indians’ batting coach – was among the many first ones to give fellow Caribbean Romario Shepherd a large hug after MI received its first sport of IPL 2024.
After all, Shepherd’s Pollardesque exhibition of brutal energy had emerged because the distinction between MI and Delhi Capitals.
His unbeaten 10-ball 39 – together with 32 runs off Anrich Nortje within the final over of the innings – took the sport away from the Capitals and in addition helped him earn his maiden Player-of-the-Match award in IPL.
Shepherd, the smiling murderer, was thrilled to have been ready to fill into Pollard’s huge boots. “Obviously, (Pollard is used to) doing fantastic things for Mumbai, similar to what I did. When I got a call that I was going to play, he told me to express myself before I went out to bat,” Shepherd mentioned.
“I went out there with the clear mindset knowing that the coaching staff is backing me and then the skipper also told me the same.”
Having notched up the best strike fee for an innings with at the least 10 balls, Shepherd hoped that he can proceed to contribute and assist MI pave its means again within the league.
“It hasn’t like soaked in as yet, what I did today. First of all, the win was more important than anything today because we are in a bad position as a team. So we needed a win and the coaches and all, everyone was acting for someone to be a hero put up there and with a great performance,” he mentioned.
“Today I did well, so we have to continue this. It’s only one game so we know how far ahead we have to go with this momentum that we actually created.”
