'More dangerous or more aggressive is the way to go for me'
After a disappointing season last year, the West Indies allrounder talks about how hungry he is to make an impact this IPL
"I always feel like I can come on and make a difference like taking the pace off the ball, lines, lengths" • AFP/Getty Images
It is due to some soul-searching I did, and being able to perform my role freely. Having [Darren] Sammy as the captain [at Peshawar Zalmi], the rapport that we possess, he knowing what I can do, gave me the freedom to express myself once again.
I want to be always expressive, but for some reason I went into a shell. A lot of different things would have played a part in that, but I've realised that a more dangerous Pollard or a more aggressive Pollard is the way to go. That has made me who I am today. Why not go back to that and back myself in that aspect?
It helps you to keep at the back of your mind that nothing is impossible. You still have it. Once you do anything with a clear mind and you have a plan behind it, and you put in the work, the rewards are going to be there.
Yeah, of course. You remind yourself of the good times, what you did, your mindset, in those times. I relish that opportunity that was given in terms of that role of freedom. I batted at No. 3 [and lower] whenever the team was in a tough situation. There was this one innings where I went in and hit two sixes in two balls and got out. That changed the momentum because that is what T20 cricket is about. We tend to get carried away by the amount of runs that you score, but T20 cricket is about the impact a guy can have with the bat or the ball or even in the field. You can take two magnificent catches or you have the run-out that changes the course of the entire game - that would be the deciding factor. Those are things we tend to bypass when we do the analysis.
I would want to believe so. When I look back, I would say yes more often than not. In ten years, [despite] three bad years, I would have repaid the faith on many different occasions to the franchise. And the franchise has reciprocated as well. They have shown faith in me even when I had a bad year. It goes to show the owners and the sort of people that Mumbai Indians have. I am always grateful and thankful for the opportunity. When you don't do well, you wonder who is going to have your back. I can safely say they have had my back and I have had theirs.
The last three to four seasons, my role has been different. I wasn't specifically told it is a different role, but when you find yourself in situations, you realise it is a different role.
Not about that. The only chat we had was when I was going to be left out [later in the season]. It was a very honest chat. Once it is straight and it is honest, I am fine. I was good around the group [despite being dropped]. I am a positive person in anything I do. Once that chat was done, then it was about what the team needed at that point in time. Then we started to win. And when I came back in with a fresh mind, I scored a fifty. I was part of the resurgence. That whole 2018 season for us was a bit up and down, a bit clouded.
Yeah, Mahela delivered the bad news. But it was a very, very good chat. Being able to have a guy who has played a lot of cricket, knows the up and down of form, was even better. The plan was to sit out a few games, but Evin [Lewis] got injured and I was filling in [for one match]. I was then out for a while because they wanted to try a different combination. That was fine with me. I still had an important role to play as a senior guy at Mumbai Indians and I think I did that even without that.
It wasn't really difficult. You try to look at things from different angles: as a player, as a member of a squad, as somebody who has to make a decision for the benefit of the team. Once you are honest in certain aspects, as to where you might not agree with everything, but as a team player you realise certain things might have to change, then it becomes easier for you accept. It would have been the first time I would have been dropped in the IPL ever. It was a matter of staying positive.
I am not too sure where I am most comfortable. I look to evolve. Sometimes you need more time, sometimes less. It depends on the position you are batting. In Mumbai, I started off batting in the last five overs, then eventually after 12 overs on. Honestly, I just want, at times, to play roles where I have an impact, change the game for the team to win. But you can tell me the stats. I am not sure.
The last ten it is for me then! (laughs loudly)
Mentally, any time after eight to ten overs, I am fine. But then there are times you walk in after the third or fourth over because the team has lost early wickets. You practise against the new ball for that reason. For the stats you gave me there, it might be a case of the team in trouble, you have come in early and you have no choice but to settle first, you have to consolidate.
Yes and no. Again, conditions dictate your tempo a lot. A legspinner to a right-hander is always a dangerous match-up. I dare you to tell me how many right-handers actually dominate legspin. Legspinners are one of the strongest wicket-taking options. When a guy comes in against a spinner who has both the legbreak and the googly, it is very difficult to hit him for sixes because initially he is going away from you and then you are thinking it is going to come back in. So in my mind I would be a little more conservative against that type of a bowler and accelerate later. You have to be a bit more cautious.
Definitely. But you try and work on it day in, day out. It makes no sense to hide from it and be macho. It is there. It is there to see.
That, to me, is laughable. Why would you try to dominate something that maybe has the risk of getting you out when you can leave it and there are five other deliveries to face and capitalise on? You see people have these sorts of perceptions and they don't think about risk and reward. They only speak about it because they are not in that position. Say, you've just come in to bat, and the bowler is bombarding you with short balls - what's the risk, what's the reward? The numbers do not show I am actually weak against the short ball.
[Hit him] straight out of Durban!
No, I don't think the impact player's role has changed. You have young guys like Nicholas Pooran. He is going to change the way of things. Hardik Pandya - he walks in and hits spinners for a six off the first three balls. It is a matter for franchises to understand players who perform different roles while creating impact.
Yes, I have not been bowling, especially in the IPL. That may be because of the [Mumbai] think tank's lack of confidence in my bowling. It could be because of the line-up that we play, because we tend to play with five out-and-out bowlers, and then we have Hardik, who is our sixth bowler. And then I can bowl as well. So that has diminished my bowling a bit. But outside of IPL, I bowl in other tournaments - PSL, CPL.
It is a matter of decision-making at times, in terms of how we go about things. Sometimes, when you've lost a game in the last over, you can pinpoint all sorts of ways or means where you could have done better. But it is just about thinking on your feet and then having clearer plans. Last year, in a couple of games, we were really unfortunate. A couple of games we did not execute what we wanted to, and we were in winning positions but we lost. We just need to identify where we need to be a little more stronger, a bit more precise, and execute.
Some things you just have to keep within. I had an honest look at myself and different aspects I wanted to change. I had a very, very long discussion with myself and with persons close to me on certain aspects and a direction in which I wanted to go forward. How and what are some of the things I need to do and not do that would help me express myself better, make me a better player and also a better person. Basically everything.
I don't think of it as a point to prove. I have proven it before. There is no doubt I can do it again. It is about enjoyment now. We start to play this game, this lovely game, because we loved it. I always remember that. Not many people get paid to do the things that they love. When I look back, I used to enjoy, I used to smile. It used to be a lot different. At one point that intensity [of enjoyment] might have dropped. That is one of the things I have brought into my life, both on and off the field. I have no point to prove to anyone.
Ha ha! For the World Cup, my selection for West Indies is out of my hands. It is not something I lose sleep over. We had individual meetings last June or July with Jimmy Adams [Cricket West Indies' director of cricket] and Johnny Grave [CWI chief executive], where our positions were stated. But since then nothing has changed. I am not being bitter. I am not losing sleep. I continue to play cricket. Whoever selects Pollard and he is fit, I would want to have a positive impact on that team.
I did, actually. The guys really showed their mettle in the Test and ODI series. It was just a shame we couldn't finish it off in the T20 leg. But you give praise where praise is due. And it was great to see another 30-plus guy, 35-year-old [Chris Gayle], who they would have been writing off on so many occasions prove again why he calls himself Universe Boss: 39-odd sixes in four ODIs. That in itself was fantastic.
Nagraj Gollapudi is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo