All posts tagged: shaun pollock

Experts point to the overusage of slower balls from Jasprit Bumrah as the reason behind his poor form: ‘gone over the top’

Experts point to the overusage of slower balls from Jasprit Bumrah as the reason behind his poor form: ‘gone over the top’

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: May 2, 2026 11:29 AM IST It is an unusually poor season for Jasprit Bumrah for the Mumbai Indians. The wickets have not been coming as Bumrah is accustomed, and strangely enough, the Mumbai ace-pacer has taken a bit of tapping in recent games. Experts have observed that there is a dip in the pace of Bumrah, and he has also been over-reliant on the slower ones, which is a byproduct of playing on slightly sluggish surfaces at the backend of the T20 World Cup 2026 that is causing his downfall. “I think it was also influenced a little bit by the back end of T20 World Cup. Because of the nature of surfaces, lots of games taken place, the slower ball became so effective. I think at the start of this tournament, it was kind of a hangover of that one was effective, let’s stick with it,” former South African cricketer Shaun Pollock said on Cricbuzz. Reminding the strengths of Bumrah, Pollock said: “He still needs to understand that his speed …

Former Proteas captain blames Mumbai Indians form on three key bowlers 

Former Proteas captain blames Mumbai Indians form on three key bowlers 

Published by Webster

2 min readApr 29, 2026 01:41 PM IST Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock has blamed three Mumbai Indians bowlers as the reason the five-time champions have had a torrid Indian Premier League 2026 season. Pollock laid the blame for Mumbai’s form on the steps of Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur, saying that the trio and their poor bowling numbers have let the team down. Mumbai are currently ninth on the points table. They’ve lost five out of their seven matches despite a team composition that many believed would do exceedingly well at the IPL. Pollock took aim at Mumbai’s bowling unit and said, “They’ve been let down by their three key bowling options – Boult, Thakur, and Chahar. They would have considered them bankers pre-season. The 11 they are playing now is very far from the one they would have picked right after the auction. That’s probably been the biggest surprise.” The former South African skipper also spoke about the abundance of options that Mumbai possessed and how that might be an …

Ravi Shastri slams India batsmen: ’Very ordinary batting. Not a pitch to be 142 for 7, India won’t be happy’ | Cricket News

Ravi Shastri slams India batsmen: ’Very ordinary batting. Not a pitch to be 142 for 7, India won’t be happy’ | Cricket News

Published by Webster

“This is still a good surface. This not a pitch to be 142 for 7. Ordinary batting. India won’t be one bit happy. You have to put your hands up and say that’s very ordinary batting,” Ravi Shastri, former India coach, summarised India’s batting on day 3. His comments came on the back of Shaun Pollock’s comments that some of the batting has been “soft” and it would have been understandable if the wickets had come “off some brilliant deliveries” and the former South African pacer ran through some of the wickets. KL Rahul lunged at a Keshav Maharaj delivery, getting his hands rather low, and the ball popped up off the splice for a simple catch at slips. His opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal had a ball that stopped on him perhaps, and he just check-punched it off the edge to short third man. Sai Sudharsan, back in the playing XI, wasted a decent start, pulling a harmless delivery from the offspinner Simon Harmer to midwicket. Dhruv Jurel, who had pulled Harmer to deep midwicket …

‘When Virat Kohli was captain they used to score big..’: Gautam Gambhir’s India leaving too much to chance, says ex-IPL teammate | Cricket News

‘When Virat Kohli was captain they used to score big..’: Gautam Gambhir’s India leaving too much to chance, says ex-IPL teammate | Cricket News

Published by Webster

India’s abject display on a below-par pitch at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata during a 30-run defeat to South Africa on Sunday has raised severe criticsm over head coach Gautam Gambhir and his tactics to leave the skills of his batters and bowlers to chance. Defending India’s decision and request to play on such an improbable surface, Gambhir had lamented the poor batting of his side as the solitary reason behind the defeat. However, former Australia wicket-keeper Brad Haddin said that India’s reliance on rank turners are back-firing for the second time under Gambhir. Last year, India similar failed to chase down a 147-run target against New Zealand in Mumbai, culminating with an ignominious 0-3 series whitewash for the first time in history. Haddin recalled the captaincy days for Virat Kohli when dominated for nearly six years at home, suffering negligible losses while piling on heavy runs on the board before the spinners took over. Story continues below this ad ‘Twice now under Gambhir..’ “When Virat Kohli took over as captain back then, they batted …

“Don’t Need Him Next Year”: South Africa Great’s Huge Verdict On MS Dhoni’s CSK Future

“Don’t Need Him Next Year”: South Africa Great’s Huge Verdict On MS Dhoni’s CSK Future

Published by Webster

MS Dhoni in action for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025© AFP Legendary South Africa cricket team fast bowler Shaun Pollock said that he will be surprised to see MS Dhoni playing for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL next year and added that the team is ready to go forward under Ruturaj Gaikwad‘s leadership. Dhoni was given the captaincy once again after Ruturaj was ruled out due to injury but it did not change CSK’s fortunes. The five-time champions crashed out of IPL 2025 playoffs race after losing eight out of their ten matches till now. Pollock said that Dhoni has nothing more to achieve and it will all come down to the legacy that he wants to leave behind. “I don’t think (CSK needs Dhoni the captain next season). He is having to step in because Gaikwad is injured. He has nothing more to achieve. He has won as much as anyone. It’s gonna be down to what he wants because of the legacy he has left and the impact he …

Rohit Sharma Under Stress? “Captaincy Mode” Responsible: Great On Star’s Poor Form Ahead Of T20 WC

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IPL 2024: File photo of Rohit Sharma© Twitter For Rohit Sharma, the last few days have not been easy. His series of poor scores continued even on Monday, though Mumbai Indians won against SunRisers Hyderabad in an IPL 2024 match. The Indian cricket team captain has not been able to fire in the tournament recently and that has added to MI’s inconsistent show so far. Rohit’s form in the last five matches has been abject, to say the least.  Though he scored a ton vs CSK in a losing cause, Rohit’s form has been on a downward trajectory since then. His scores in the last five games, including the SRH match, read 4, 11, 4, 8 6. That’s 33 runs in five matches. South Africa great Shaun Pollock commented on his loss of form. “He’ll be disappointed with that. He got off to a fiery start. Some people were saying, ‘Look he’s no longer captain so he’s getting back to his old form’. He’s still got two more games so hopefully he fires before he …