Kieron Pollard doesn’t want to see ‘yellow and red’ at Wankhede in IPL; urges MI players to put ‘team above themselves’

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya with teammate Suryakumar Yadav during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in Jaipur. (PTI photo) Newly appointed Mumbai Indians head coach Kieron Pollard has admitted that the five-time IPL champions have not lived up to the expectations of their fans in recent seasons. He said the first step to getting back to their best is to accept where they fall short and work to fix it.Pollard, who has been the batting coach of Mumbai Indians for the last four seasons of the IPL, takes over from Mahela Jayawardene, who parted ways with the franchise last week. The former West Indies all-rounder has been associated with MI since IPL 2010 when he was signed as a player.Pollard was part of all five IPL winning campaigns in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. He also featured in the team’s Champions League T20 triumphs in 2011 and 2013.“We haven’t been as great as you (the fans) want us to be and the first step to improve is to acknowledge and recognize that you are still the most loyal fans to us Paltan and hopefully we can continue to show that passion that you have seen over the years and we can relive some of those memories with some of the next generation of cricketers,” Muba said in a social media video on Saturday Pollard.Pollard played 189 IPL matches, scoring 3,412 runs at a strike rate of 147.32 and taking 69 wickets. He played his final IPL season in 2022 before retiring from the league ahead of the 2023 edition and moving straight into the role of batting coach.Speaking about his priorities as head coach, Pollard said the team first needed to identify areas that needed improvement and rebuild their identity at the Wankhede Stadium. He admitted that the franchise cannot ignore its recent struggles.Mumbai Indians have not won the IPL title since their 2020 triumph in the UAE. While they made the playoffs in 2023 and 2025, they finished tenth in 2024 and ninth in 2026.Pollard said he did not want to see fans wearing rival teams’ colors at the Wankhede Stadium. He wants the place to be full of Mumbai Indians blues and for the players to understand what it means to represent the franchise.“.When you walk into the Wankhede Stadium, you don’t see yellows and reds and stuff. You want to see the blue flag flying and you want to see that passion and spirit from the fans. And that can come primarily from us,” said the newly appointed MI head coach.“So that’s where our job kind of starts in terms of understanding what we’re playing for and who we’re playing for. We’re aware of the fact that we haven’t been where we wanted to be in the last couple of years. So there’s no hiding from that. But what’s going to happen is we’re going to try our best now to make sure we continue to play for that badge and then we’ll give it to the opposition when they remember the past. Yes, it’s history, but sometimes, to get forward, you have to go back a little bit and understand, and I think that’s where it starts,” claimed Pollard.