IPL 7 MI vs RCB: Why Kieron Pollard lost his cool at Mitchell Starc?

Mumbai: Mumbai Indians foreign import Kieron Pollard inadvertently loses his bat many times while trying to send the white leather ball into the stands but on Tuesday the target happened to be Mitchell Starc, the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler.

The Wankhede Stadium witnessed an ugly incident in the first innings of Mumbai Indians’ home against Royal Challengers Bangalore where the burly Pollard lost his cool in the 17th over bowled by Starc. Peppered with a short ball on the fourth ball after which few words were exchanged, Pollard moved away before the fifth ball, but Starc followed him and still delivered the ball. Clearly annoyed, the West Indian look to fling a bat back at the bowler but luckily it dropped near Pollard’s foot.

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With things going out of hand, captain Virat Kohi and Pollard’s West Indies team-mate Chris Gayle tried to play peacemakers along with on-field umpires S. Ravi and K. Srinath  but the two protagonists were in no mood to calm down.

The melee continued in the final over too when a mix-up between Rohit Sharma and Pollard saw them both at the batsman’s end and Starc, who bowled the final over had the last laugh as he ran Pollard out. The dismissal too was followed with some drama as Starc gestured Pollard to come to his end and complete the run while the big-hitter kicked the turf in disgust.

RCB coach Allan Donald described the incident as “little over the top.” Referee Andy Pycroft has a lot on his table now.