After Mumbai Indians' six-run defeat at the hands of Gujarat Titans in their Indian Premier League 2024 opener, batting coach Kieron Pollard discussed captain Hardik Pandya's batting position. The West Indian also talked about embattled opener Ishan Kishan and debutant Naman Dhir. (Video Credit: IPL)
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00:00 What is the biggest decision you've made in the last few months?
00:05 I think no sort of decision is made on full autonomy.
00:08 So we can't say it's his decision, obviously as a TO.
00:11 Again, normally, if you look at it over a period of time,
00:14 Tim has finished games for us as well,
00:16 Hardik has done it over the years for us as well.
00:19 So again, at any point in time, anyone with a lot of talent within India,
00:23 he was one that was on the radar for us.
00:26 He has been within the Mumbai setup the last couple of months as well,
00:30 going to England on our developmental tour.
00:33 So it's something that we'd have seen in that guy.
00:35 And he came out and he was very expressive, again a lofted shot.
00:39 We're going to be excited about these things,
00:41 but I thought he had a lot more to offer.
00:43 His calmness, even when we lost that first wicket,
00:46 to continue with that intent, I think is a good start for him.
00:50 But again, this is only the start of something.
00:53 At the end of it, he scored 20-odd.
00:55 So let's give him that space, let him enjoy the moment.
00:57 It's a big occasion for all these guys.
00:59 But as a franchise, we continue to unearth the new talent.
01:03 So hopefully in the future, we can continue with continuity as we go along.
01:07 I don't understand the controversial circumstances, obviously.
01:11 You stated clearly as to why he wasn't playing.
01:13 So again, we need to take that into consideration.
01:16 And everything as a player and as an individual as well.
01:20 Playing international sports is really, really tough.
01:22 It's not very easy, as people will think.
01:24 So again, for him, yes, he didn't score tonight.
01:27 So we can look at all sorts of different things.
01:29 But as I said, it's a long tournament.
01:31 He's an experienced guy within our setup.
01:34 And we expect big things from Ishan.
01:36 He's in a good space. He has been practicing well.
01:38 And he has been doing fairly decently.
01:40 So hopefully, within the next couple of games,
01:42 we can see a great performance from him.
01:45 And then all of you guys will continue to lord his praise when he does that.
01:49 [MUSIC]
01:52 (dramatic music)