Mumbai Indians all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya are known to bond really well on and off the field. But on Tuesday, the IPL team tweeted a photograph of the two engaging in a serious discussion during a practice match. Hardik appears to be suggesting some kind of an improvement in shot selection to Pollard ahead of their game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Pollard looks at his teammate patiently across the net. The caption read, "Charcha among two members of the torphod mandal (destruction party)."
The two players were busy honing their skills and formulating their strategy ahead of the match at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. Mumbai is heading into today's game after losing to Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a last-ball thriller during the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) match. KKR, meanwhile, defeated SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs in their first match.
About the Pollard-Pandya photograph, a Twitter user asked whether a membership fee would be required to get ordained into the group.
Others hoped Pollard should now be able to connect it well as the off-field friendship was translating into on-field camaraderie.
However, some fans had their own suggestions for batting order placement for the middle-order batsmen.
Pandya has previously said Pollard will always be his inspiration as he finishes a game quickly. And Pollard thinks that he and the Pandya brothers (including Krunal Pandya) share the same sort of sentiments.
"We share some of the same sort of sentiments, the kind of people that we are in terms of just wanting to help, and just enjoying the moment, and being thankful and grateful for whatever opportunities that are presented to us," the West Indies player had said.
The "torphod mandal" will have their match in KKR's power-hitters Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan.