There is something about West Indies cricketers -- especially in the IPL.
Be it Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo or Nicholas Pooran (who is 25 today, Happy Birthday!) they have a certain quality. Call it X Factor or give it whatever adjective to match their innate character, they are born to entertain.
On Thursday, Keiron Pollard (47 off 20) gave us a testimony of that feature, once again showing us why he makes such a difference to the Mumbai Indians.
He has a certain zing -- the energy he brings to the field is infectious and that is what happened on the night in Abu Dhabi.
While MI Captain Rohit Sharma accumulated runs while two quick wickets fell around him, Mumbai's fortunes only began to shine once Pollard made his way to the ground after Ishan Kishan got out.
Pollard got off the mark with a huge six over long-on -- Ravi Bishnoi the victim on this occasion. In the same over Rohit punished a short ball, pulling it for a four.
It was as if Pollard had waved a magic wand that the big runs started coming, so much so that it filled Rohit with confidence to go after the bowling.
Rohit found his range again, finding the gaps and the big ones with equal frequency as he got to his 50 in 40 balls.
He fell soon after, but Pollard marched on -- grooming a partnership (67 off 25) with Hardik Pandya.
Pollard took Shami in the 19th over before he tore into K Gowtham in the final over, 3 consecutive sixes to take MI to a challenging total.
With Punjab making a meal of the chase, MI recorded a win and two points, thanks to main man Pollard.
