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The upcoming fifth season of SA20 will witness one of the most shocking scenes in T20 cricket, with West Indies legend Kieron Pollard set to turn up for Joburg Super Kings (JSK) in yellow colours after being a loyalist to Mumbai Indians and its sister franchises across franchise cricket for over a decade.
During the ongoing SA20 auction taking place on Wednesday, Pollard was roped in by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) sister franchise, JSK, for R 1.5 million. This comes after years of loyalty with MI in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and its sister franchises MI Cape Town in SA20, MI New York in Major League Cricket (MLC) and MI Emirates in International League T20 (ILT20) over the years. The official handle of SA20 posted, "Whats just happened!? Joburg Super Kings immediately bids on Kieron Pollard and the bid goes unopposed. The West Indian will don the yellow at #BetwaySA20 for R1.5 million." https://x.com/SA20_League/status/2107859663848948051 The official account of JSK also posted, "We got Pollard in yellow before GTA VI #WhistleForJoburg". https://x.com/JSKSA20/status/2107867111141863581 Notably, Pollard is currently the Mumbai Indians (MI) batting coach and the head coach of MI London in The Hundred in the UK. He also continues to play for MI Emirates and MI New York in ILT20 and MLC. Now, he will be joining the four-time playoff-reaching JSK and boosting their chances for a first-ever SA20 title, which has so far been won thrice by Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) and once by MICT in 2025. During his 12-year stint with Mumbai Indians in the IPL from 2010-2022, Pollard's battles with CSK were very productive, having made 583 runs in 27 matches and 23 innings at an average of 36.44 and a strike rate of almost 172, with four fifties and a best score of 87*. He also took 14 wickets at an average of 27.57, with best figures of 2/12. Notably, Pollard is the second-highest run-scorer in T20Is and just one run away from the 15,000-run mark, with 14,999 runs in 754 matches and 651 innings at an average of 31.71 and a strike rate of almost 151, with two centuries and 71 fifties. He also has 341 wickets at an average of 25.36, with best figures of 4/15. Turning up for MI Cape Town in the 2023/24 and 2025/26 SA20 seasons, Pollard has made 207 runs in 11 innings at an average of 29.57 and a strike rate of 171.07, with a best score of 33*. He has also taken four wickets. Season 5 of the SA20 gets underway on Sunday, January 17, at St George's Park, with the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape taking on the Pretoria Capitals in a repeat of last season's final. The competition culminates with the Final at Newlands on Sunday, February 21. (ANI)
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