IPL 2022, MI’s Riddle: Is Tim David a true successor of Kieron Pollard?

Tim David averages 38 from 7 games for Mumbai Indians (MI) while Kieron Pollard 14.40 from 11 games played in TATA IPL 2022.

Tim David has 152 runs from 7 games at an ave of 38.00 and SR of 202.67 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain," this quote from Christopher Nolan’s movie The Dark Knight perfectly describes the state of Mumbai Indians (MI) and West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard. Once known as a hero who could just win matches for MI from literally any situation with bat, ball or on the field, he has now become a liability to his own beloved franchise.

The old Pollard, who had the ability to intimidate opposition players just by his mere presence in the final overs, has now become a walking wicket for the same opponents.

Knowing that such a situation might arise in the near future with 35-year-old Kieron Pollard, the five-time IPL champions wanted a successor for the West Indian all-rounder and thus secured the services of 26-year-old Australian turned Singaporean all-rounder, Tim David, for a whopping INR 8.25 crores. Read More: IPL 2022, GT vs MI Top Performances: David's late assault, Kishan's 45 & 2 run outs bring MI 2nd win

Pollard averaging in the low 20s since 2021, even as Tim David is on an upswing

Pollard hasn’t quite come to the party yet in IPL 2022, scoring just 144 runs at an average of 14.40 in the eleven innings that he has featured for Mumbai Indians. A fun fact for the trivia lovers: Kieron Pollard averaged 14.60 in the second season with the Mumbai Indians.

We saw glimpses of what David can do in the match against Gujarat Titans (GT), where he wreaked havoc with his blistering knock of 44 runs off just 21 balls. Scoring at a strike rate of 209.52, he clobbered GT bowlers for four maximums and two boundaries, which shifted the momentum in Mumbai’s favour as the maximum city’s franchise won the match by just five runs.

In the ongoing TATA IPL 2022, Tim David has scored 152 runs from the 7 games he has played so far at an average of 38.00 and astonishing strike rate of 202.67. David has also struck 12 gigantic sixes this season. In last five matches Tim David's scores read as 46 (18), 16* (7), 13 (9), 44* (21) and 20 (9).

Against SRH in the Match 65 of TATA IPL 2022, Tim David showed his might again to the cricket fraternity where he struck Thangarasu Natarajan for four gigantic sixes in an over. However, Mumbai Indians lost the game as David got run-out in 18th over but, he played an impactful innings of 18-ball-46.

As far as Tim David’s T20 international and franchise career is concerned, David is a seasoned campaigner with 2117 runs under his belt at a swashbuckling strike rate of 161.85. David has scored the majority of his runs as a finisher, batting at number five or six for the six franchises he has represented before joining the Mumbai Indians.

Not many know that David also featured for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and even Tim would like to forget that match as he scored just one run in the solo game that he played for RCB in 2021.

While Tim David has shown his powers with the bat for the Singapore national team with nerve-wracking knocks of 92 not out against Malaysia and 64 against Nepal, which earned him a spot in Australia’s franchise cricket – Big Bash League. David came to the limelight when he was swapped to Hobart Hurricanes from Perth scorchers, where David played a quick fire 17-ball 36 against Brisbane Heat, which included three massive sixes and earned him the title of "finisher".

Read More: IPL 2022, MI vs SRH, Top Performances: Tripathi 76, Malik 3-23 help SRH win; David's 46 goes waste

Kieron Pollard averages 14.40 from 11 games in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

David was also experimental in playing a vital role in Hobart’s win against Sydney Sixers with his innings of 58 runs in just 33 balls which enabled the Tasmanian franchise to win the game by a narrow margin of just one run.

While we can debate many of Polly's magical innings with the bat, whether it was his player of the match performance of 60 not out off just 32 balls against CSK in IPL 2013 final, when Mumbai were struggling at 54-4 and Pollard's innings ensured that Mumbai Indians posted a decent total of 148, which helped Mumbai win their maiden IPL trophy; or his hurricane knock of 67 off 27 balls against SRH; or the writer’s personal favorite, a game changing 87 off 34 balls against Chennai, chasing a mammoth total of 219 runs.

It goes without saying that Tim David is still nowhere even close to Pollard’s match-winning abilities, but neither was Pollard a match-winner in the initial three seasons for Mumbai, where he averaged less than 24 and won just four Player of the Match awards in the first three seasons. It will be interesting to see if Mumbai will back Tim David as much as they backed Pollard and whether David can turn out to be the finisher and all-rounder that the five-time IPL champions are looking for to continue Pollard's legacy.

Top Tweets on Tim David after hitting 46 off 18 balls in MI vs SRH game, IPL 2022

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