IPL Controversies- Part 20: Kieron Pollard Tapes His Mouth in 2015
Pollard stuck some duct tape out over his own mouth. He removed the tape slightly if he needed to talk to a teammate, but that was about it. He finally took it off when he was asked to bowl.
On April 19, 2015, Mumbai Indians put up 209/7 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. When Chris Gayle and Manvinder Bisla walked out to open batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kieron Pollard of Mumbai decided to rile up his West Indian teammate. Thus, Pollard of Trinidad went up to have a word or two with Gayle of Jamaica. Kieron Pollard Protests in a Unique Way Against Umpire Who Denied Trinbago Knight Riders a Wide Ball During CPL 2021 Match (Watch Video).
Gayle was not amused. Richard Illingworth and Vineet Kulkarni, the umpires, had to intervene. They asked Pollard to control his words. Pollard responded by taking some duct tape out (after the third over) and sticking it over his own mouth. He removed the tape slightly if he needed to talk to a teammate, but that was about it. IPL Controversies- Part 19: Andre Russell’s Stop-Start Delivery in 2014.
The crowd roared in laughter. Cricketers and umpires alike saw the funny side of it. After the match, Player of the Match Harbhajan Singh called it “different and unique” and “in good taste”. But Pollard took some criticism from the cricketing fraternity.
The tape stayed put until the end of the 19th over. Then, with 28 to defend in the last over, Rohit Sharma asked Pollard to bowl. Pollard took the tape off and bowled an excellent over, conceding just 9.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2021 07:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).