Kieron Pollard has backed Suryakumar Yadav to be rewarded with an India call-up.
The Mumbai batsman hit an unbeaten 79 to help his team to a vital victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.
The win all but guarantees Mumbai’s place in the playoffs and took them closer to topping the group.
He is now on track for another 400-plus IPL campaign after bagging 512 runs in 2018 and 424 in 2019.
Despite shining for his franchise, Suryakumar is yet to win recognition with his country.
However, Pollard, who led MI against RCB in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, believes it won’t be long before he is handed a chance to represent India.
“Imagine you have someone who bats at that strike rate, especially when you lose an early wicket because he comes at No. 3. Time and time again, no matter the situation he continues to show the class of a player he is,” Pollard said.
“Deep down inside, he must be very disappointed not getting to don the blue for India but I'm sure he's very, very close, I'm sure.
“He's done some amazing things for us as a franchise, and the most he can do is continue to let the bat talk and score more runs for us and take us all the way.
“To me, he just keeps getting better. If he continues to be this consistent then at some point in time, you are going to get rewarded. Nothing happens before its time, and long may it continue for us as a franchise.”
Yadav Pleased with Progress
One thing that pleased Yadav most about his match-winning knock against Virat Kohli’s men was the way he was able to finish the chase himself.
He said: “When we started the tournament, the team management and Rohit came to me and said ‘you have played enough cricket now, it's high time now you take the game deep, and bat as long as possible; it provides a good platform for the team and even it will be good for yourself'.
“So I badly wanted to do it and I'm very happy with that.
“I was looking to finish the game for a long time. And sitting back in the [hotel] room I was thinking how do I do it? So I wanted to learn what my game is exactly, and just go out there and finish the game for the team.”
