When Kieron Pollard came out to play with tape on his mouth, why did he do this?
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In the Indian Premier League, Kieron Pollard of Mumbai Indians had decided to play with a tape on his mouth after an argument with the umpire. He did this against Royal Challengers in 2015. Even today this incident is remembered. His way of expressing his protest surprised everyone.
When Kieron Pollard came to play with tape on his mouth during the IPL match
New Delhi. There have been some matches in the history of the Indian Premier League which can never be forgotten. Everyone knows about the on-field clashes between players, but there was a match in which the player clashed with the umpire. During a match in 2015, the teams of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians were face to face. During the match, West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard protested by putting duct tape on his mouth.
What happened?
The Mumbai Indians team had set a target of 210 runs and the team players knew that if RCB’s explosive opener Chris Gayle batted, they would lose the match. Kieron Pollard was aware of the game of his national teammate. So he started sledging and started harassing Chris Gayle continuously. Umpires Richard Illingworth and Vineet Kulkarni present on the field expressed displeasure at Pollard’s behavior and asked him to stop talking.
In return for the warning to remain silent, Pollard expressed his protest in such a way that everyone kept watching. He just put duct tape on his mouth. This is generally seen as a public protest. Pollard continued this silent protest till then. Until he came to bowl the last over of the match. He removed the tape before bowling.
By putting tape on his lips, Pollard showed the umpires that now he will neither say anything nor sledge. Whenever he had to talk to his teammate, Pollard would talk by removing a part of the tape and then put the tape back on. Mumbai Indians won this match by 18 runs.
What did Harbhajan Singh say on this incident
When Man of the Match winner Harbhajan Singh was asked about his opinion on the incident, he said, “The umpire asked him to keep quiet, so he taped his mouth to ensure that he kept quiet. He is a different kind of player. He likes to do things like this. There is a different color to be seen from West Indies players in the IPL and this was something different and unique, which was done in good spirit.”
About the Author
Active in sports journalism for more than 15 years. Worked in cricket website of Etv Bharat, Zee News. Was the sports head of Dainik Jagran website. Covered the Olympics, Commonwealth, Cricket and Football World Cups. October…read more
