Kieron Pollard Withdraws From Joburg Super Kings’ 2027 SA20 Season! Star West Indian Cites Reason For Pull Out

Kieron Pollard has pulled out of Joburg Super Kings’ 2027 SA20 campaign only hours after being named head coach of Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

Pollard told Joburg Super Kings he would not be available. The timing matters because he had only recently joined the franchise, and the new IPL job would have put MI’s head coach in the colours of a rival group in another league.

That drew extra attention because JSK’s link to Chennai Super Kings and MI Cape Town’s link to Mumbai Indians sit within an IPL rivalry that has long been a major one.

Auction And Franchise Links

Pollard had only just been secured by JSK. The franchise paid R1.5 million for him at this month’s SA20 auction.

MI Cape Town had passed on Pollard and instead went with Shimron Hetmyer for the same fee.

JSK and MI Cape Town are sister franchises of Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, respectively, in the IPL, and those sides are historic rivals.

Reaction And Replacement

The move caused a stir in India. Kasi Viswanathan, Chennai Super Kings’ CEO, told Cricbuzz that Pollard had informed the franchise he could not play.

Viswanathan said the franchise would now look for a replacement. Mumbai Indians management, meanwhile, said Pollard was free to turn out for another franchise.

Wankhede Message

Pollard has also spoken about the atmosphere he wants at Wankhede. After replacing Mahela Jayawardene as Mumbai Indians’ coach, he used his first interview to call for a stronger home identity at the stadium.

“My first task is… bring that energy and spirit," he said in his first interview after replacing Mahela Jayawardene as MI’s coach.

“That when you walk into the Wankhede Stadium, you are not seeing the yellows and the reds and stuff like that," he said in the interview on MI’s YouTube channel.

“You want to see that blue flag flying, and you want to see that passion and spirit from the fans. And that can only come firstly from us. So that’s where our work sort of starts—in terms of understanding what we are playing for and who we are playing for. We recognise the fact that we have not been where we wanted to be in the last couple of years," he said.