MI Home, MI Team, MI Emirates

Let’s light the desert up, shall we? Our fireworks have been unpacked, loaded, and are waiting to launch. And boy, we’ve seen what these fireworks are capable of individually. Imagine the show that’d be put up when they come together .. 

There’s also an MI-through-the-years feel to our team. Kieron Pollard, the true blue bleeder. Dwayne Bravo, the man who saw it all starting back in 2008. Trent Boult, the Man of the Man in the finals of MI’s 2020 title-winning season. Nicholas Pooran, the then-prodigy, had his first taste of the IPL with MI as a 21-year-old in 2017. 

Oh it’s going to be fun when nostalgia translates into some brilliant onfield chemistry. From finding innovative ways to sledge each other, Pollard and Bravo can go back to finding innovative ways to plot dismissals. From Boult’s whopping swingers, to Imran Tahir ending up in Dubai with his celebratory run for wickets he claims in Abu Dhabi, to Nicholas Pooran tonking balls onto the streets, to Andre Fletcher not bothering to look up after doing the same, to a whole exciting bunch of youngsters ready to lap up the experience around this extravaganza event, it is going to be serious fun. 

This is MI home. This is MI Team. This is MI Emirates. Habibi, see you in Abu Dhabi!

Sheikh Zayed Stadium | Our home, our fortress:

Abu Dhabi, and the picturesque Sheikh Zayed cricket stadium with a capacity to house 20000 fans, is set to be our home ground in the Emirates. Established in 2004 and with large grand stands at either end and grass banks on the sides, cricket under floodlights and a packed crowd would be a sight to behold. The 22-yards pitch has generally been very sporting, with the grass on it aiding early movement for the bowlers, with batters enjoying the true bounce and pace it tends to offer.

Kieron Pollard | Our captain:

The MI legend. The powerhouse. The Llord of the Wankhede. With his massive sixes, wily bowling, plucking-catches-out-of-thin-air-for-fun kind of stuff on the field, and an infectious attitude that has seen him steal matches that were dead and buried, trust the veteran West Indian to unleash some crazy celebrations. He may have retired from international sport, and he may have won everything there is to win in cricket (multiple times!), trust him to be absolutely pumped to pocket an inaugural title in a country where he already has extremely fond memories. 

KIERON POLLARD, OUR MAN, OUR SKIP!