David has the potential to replace Pollard: Rohit

Mumbai (Uttam Hindu News): Filling the void left by former explosive all-rounder Kieron Pollard may be a tough task for Mumbai Indians, but skipper Rohit Sharma believes Tim David has the ability to do so.

Chasing a target of 213 against Rajasthan Royals in the 1000th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai needed 17 runs in the last over. David hit three sixes off the first three balls of the over, making Mumbai the first team in IPL history to chase down a target of over 200 at the Wankhede Stadium.

Rohit said after the match, “Look, replacing Pollard is a big deal. Obviously, Polly has done so well for so many years and we have won so many championships with her performance. Tim also has a lot of potential, as you saw today. He has got strength which can be helpful in the dying moments of the match. When you have that kind of power it becomes difficult for the bowlers to face which is a good thing.”

When David came out to bat after the fall of Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai needed 61 runs in 26 balls. David alone scored 45 runs in 14 balls, which included five sixes and two fours. With this performance of Tim, Mumbai could register their fourth win in eight matches this season.

David said on his innings, “Yes, we needed this win. The fans in the stadium wanted to see us win. So, there is no better feeling than when we go out to Wankhede and win. We probably haven’t played our best game in the last few matches. Our team knew that too and so they put in a good performance, it’s fantastic for us and it’s really nice to see our team getting excited.”

“It was great to bat on this ground today. It became difficult for their bowlers to bowl (due to the dew), but personally I have wanted to do something like this for a while and was very keen to get the team a win. So after the match now I feel very good.