39 from 10 balls, Mumbai's new 'Pollard' in IPL breaks ties with Pakistan!
Romario Shepherd has set a precedent in IPL. He is being called the new ‘Pollard’ in Mumbai Indians. This shepherd left the Pakistan team to play in the IPL.
Romario Shepherd made his debut for Mumbai Indians in the IPL against Delhi Capitals. And he set a precedent in the first match. Scored 39 runs off 10 balls. He scored 32 runs in the last over. He is being called the new ‘Kieron Pollard’ of Mumbai. The Caribbean star left a Pakistan Super League side to play in the IPL.
He hit four sixes and two fours in one over of Delhi’s Anrikh Nokhi. This is the highest run scored in an over so far in this competition. He also set a precedent in this innings. Till now, Pat Cummins was at the top in terms of strike rate in IPL. He scored 56 runs off 15 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022 IPL.
That was the highest strike rate in an innings of 10 or more balls in the IPL so far. Cummins’ innings topped the devastating innings. But on Sunday, Shepherd smashed Cummins’ record of 39 off 10 balls. The Caribbean all-rounder has a strike rate of 390. Cummins had 373.33.
AB de Villiers scored 41 off 11 balls against Mumbai Indians in 2015. That was the record before Cummins’ innings. De Villiers’ strike rate was 372.72. Andre Russell came closest to de Villiers’ record in 2019. He scored 48 off 13 balls. Russell’s strike rate was 369.23. The all-rounder from Mumbai came to the top on Sunday.
Shepherd’s international career began in 2019. He made his debut in the West Indies one-day team. In 2020, he got a chance in the T20 team of the country. So far he has scored 213 runs in 18 ODIs for West Indies. Took 11 wickets. Scored 286 runs in 26 T20 matches. Took 22 wickets.It is clear from these statistics that Shepherd did not play according to his talent. That is why he is not regular in the national team. But the innings he played for Mumbai against Delhi will give West Indies cricket an extra boost of confidence ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Apart from Hyderabad, Lucknow and Mumbai in IPL, Shepherd played for Colombo Stars in Sri Lanka Premier League, Chittagong Challengers in Bangladesh Premier League, Guyana Amazon Warriors in Caribbean Premier League and Johannesburg Super Kings in South Africa T20 League. Mumbai bought Shepherd mainly because of Pollard in this auction. Pollard is now Mumbai’s batting coach. He trusted in the Shepherd. This long-bodied cricketer of West Indies paid the price for that trust.
Shepherd himself considers Pollard a role model. Pollard has played for Mumbai for a long time in IPL. He helped Shepherd on how to fit into that team. “I learned a lot from Pollard,” Shepherd said in the press conference after the match. The success of this team is due to his contribution. I want to do that too. Pollard told me before this match, I will be in the first XI. So I made a plan in advance.”
Shepard also told what plan he had prepared. He just wanted to see the ball and play big shots. “I know it’s hard to get chances every game in such a big team,” Shepherd said. So I decided to use whatever opportunity I get. I kept a cool head. I was playing watching the ball. Everyone expects this kind of innings from me. That’s what I did.”
Pollard was earlier seen as a finisher in Mumbai Indians. He has won many matches by going down to the end. Shepherd sees himself as that finisher. He wants to take Pollard’s place. Mumbai are also looking for an alternative to Pollard. Just as they got Yashprit Bumrah after Lasith Malinga, Pollard has yet to do so. Tim David is not consistent. Shepherd can take that place. From now on everyone started calling him the new ‘Pollard’. Shepherd wants to put a stamp on this name, not just one match.
