IS TIM DAVID THE NEW FINISHER FOR MUMBAI INDIANS

 Is Tim David ready to take the finishing spot from Kieron Pollard for Mumbai Indians?

After signing him for a massive amount of 8.25cr, Tim David was dropped from the Mumbai Indians team after just 2 games and was continuously sitting on bench.

When Kieron Pollard, the veteran scratched around, his mind seemingly clouded, Mumbai Indians' new recruit was all poise and confidence as he fashioned a late flourish.

Watching proceedings on Friday at the Brabourne Stadium, it looked like Kieron Pollard, finisher supreme, white-ball destroyer and bonafide T20 legend, seemed a pale shadow of the big-hitter he once was.

Meanwhile Tim David, one of the costliest signings for Mumbai, stepped up to play the kind of role Pollard has for more than a decade. It made you wonder why he has played just four games. Remember, Mumbai fielded just three overseas players in one match, and two in another.

On a pitch, where Pollard stumbled for just 4 runs of 14 balls, David blasted 44 not out from 21 balls. Where Pollard was diffident against spin - it seemed inevitable that Hardik Pandya would bring on Rashid Khan almost immediately as he came out to bat - David muscled the ball fearlessly despite the knowledge that it was on him to revive a stuttering innings, albeit on a belter of a surface.

Mumbai were 111/3 after 12 overs when Pollard come in to bat. He had enough time to get himself going against P Sangwan and L Ferguson, before Rashid was bring in by Hardik Pandya. By that point Pollard was on 4 off 9, with Ferguson having mixed up his pace to tie him down. He then tried to see Rashid off. Rashid stuck to his tried-and-tested mantra of bowling ripping legbreaks from a length. Pollard wasn't taking any chances.

Pollard picked lengths in a jiffy. Here, he didn't seem sure whether to go forward or to play from the crease. If it was spinning away or sliding in. He also seemed to be playing for the wrong 'un. When your mind stuck in two ways and clouded to this extent, it's half the battle lost.

Pollard got a legbreak that beat the edge. He played down the wrong line and the ball took the top of off. He was gone for 4 off 14. In the 2.5 overs he had been around at the crease, Mumbai managed just eight runs. A projected score that had touched 200 was suddenly toned down to 169.

Even as Pollard who was looking a hopeless figure, David looked at ease and in the zone right from the outset. It was as if he had been practicing range hitting elsewhere, just before walking in. In the five preceding overs, Mumbai had managed all of 23 runs while losing three wickets. Pressure? There was no sign of it as he calmly shuffled from outside leg, set his base on middle and coolly drilled Mohammed Shami past mid-off to rev up.

Next ball, he quickly jumped on a short ball, sending it soaring to the square-leg boundary. Having bowled full earlier, it was a perfect reaction from a snarling fast bowler to pepper the batter with a short one. Except, David was into position in a jiffy. Suddenly, he had broken the shackles with two fours.

David then showed his smarts by playing out Rashid's final over, milking singles with Tilak Varma, before he took on Alzarri Joseph. The arc between long-off and deep midwicket would be his preferred hitting zone as he blasted four sixes off the last 11 balls of his innings.

He set himself a strong base around middle, to be able to access both parts of the ground. Short, he was ready with the pull. Full and wide, he accessed long-off. Full and angling in, he had deep midwicket. It gave Mumbai important runs at the death. From looking good for 200 to suddenly appearing as if they'd get only 165, David had dragged them to 177.

"David has done this before in other leagues when he sat out a little bit. He's putting together this resume where he should be the one who's first selected. Australia are going to be looking at him with the power that he has. There's a lot going on to be impressed with. You just don't see such clean hitting with such pure shot making at the back end of an IPL innings." Daniel Vettori on ESPN'S analysis show.

It is not wrong to say that Mumbai Indians are already out of the race to playoffs but they still got four matches to play which means four more opportunities for both David and Pollard who would be looking to end this miserable season on a high note.