IPL Auction: 5 players who might replace Kieron Pollard at Mumbai Indians for IPL 2023

Mumbai Indians (MI) went through their most disappointing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) history in 2022 by winning only four matches out of 14. Looking at their glorifying past, it can be said that such an underwhelming show from the team was not expected. 

Ahead of the mini-auction fans were hoping the franchise to revamp its side for the next season by getting rid of players who didn't perform well in the last season. There were also some talks among cricket fans that MI could release Kieron Pollard due to his plummeting performance. 

On November 15, the team management did the same by ending their 13 year-long association with the West Indies player. For MI, the decision must have been a difficult one to take as Pollard was an MI stalwart for 13 years and had played an enormous role to help the team become the most successful team in the league by clinching the title five times. For the next season, the team management would like to rope in a new player who could fill his big shoes.

Let us look at some names that might be the ideal replacement of Kieron Pollard at MI:

1. Tim David

Tim David made his IPL debut in 2021 by playing just one game for Royal Challengers Bangalore. But in 2022, the batter got a chance to showcase his talent and skills by playing for MI. David, known for playing sensational innings in the middle order, could provide balance to MI in the next season.

In the last edition, the franchise had preferred David over Pollard by giving him a chance in the playing XI of the last few matches and the youngster didn’t disappoint the franchise by delivering some rapid knocks to the team with his bat. Overall, in the tournament, he played eight games in the last edition of the league and scored 186 runs at an impressive average of 37.20.

In 2023, MI could trust him to reinforce the batting line-up of the team alongside other batters like Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, and Tilak Varma among others.