'T20 World Cup is irrelevant now, we're playing in the IPL'
Pollard said he won't look too far ahead and will deal with the World Cup once IPL 2021 comes to an end.
Mumbai Indians and West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard said he is not thinking about the T20 World Cup now as it is 'irrelevant' considering that he is currently playing in the IPL. Pollard said he won't look too far ahead and will deal with the World Cup once IPL 2021 comes to an end.
"To be honest, World Cup is irrelevant at this point of time, we are playing the IPL tournament," Pollard said after MI registered their first victory of the UAE leg, beating Punjab Kings by six wickets to stay in the hunt to make the playoffs.
The T20 World Cup is slated to begin on October 17 barely a couple of days after the IPL final on the 15th.
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"When you are in a tournament as an individual, you look to think about the present and not look too far ahead. It is a matter of giving all the guys confidence and finding the best solutions. These are guys that have done the job for us, people on the outside do not understand what cricketers go through," Pollard said.
The ICC event is set to be played in UAE and Oman with the major part of it in being hosted by the former. The pitches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have slow during he IPL but Pollard is not ready to read too much into it.
"Why think about the T20 World Cup when we are playing the IPL. Let's deal with the present, everyone is going on about the pitches, but you cannot get what you want all the time. As a professional athlete, you need to adapt. For me, personally it is about staying in the present and dealing with what is in front of us as a team," he added.
Hardik Pandya starred with the bat as all-rounder smashed unbeaten 40* to carry his team over the victory line. Saurabh Tiwary and Kieron Pollard also played important innings of 45 and 15* respectively for the Mumbai Indians (MI). Pollard also scalped two wickets for the defending champions as they restricted PBKS to 135.
The two-time defending champions are currently in fifth position with 10 points in 11 matches but Pollard was confident that the Rohit Sharma-led side can make it to the playoffs.
"What we have is belief is one another and we believe we can get out of any situation. So, I think the biggest thing for us is belief and we have put ourselves in this situation and the players and the management is sticking together," said Pollard.
