"Five foreigners not a good idea"
Unlike Punjab coach Tom Moody, Mumbai Indians' mentor Shaun Pollock is against having five foreigners in the League, saying the IPL is meant for giving chance to local talents.
"Why would you want to change that. At the end of the day when you went to the auction, you chose your players based on the fact that you will need only four players. It wouldn't make sense to change it now," the former South Africa pacer told reporters in Mumbai on Sunday."The idea of the IPL was to discover some local Indian talent. The more opportunities they get the better for them," he added.
In a newspaper column, Moody had stated that since the number of franchisees in the IPL had been increased to 10, it was time to increase the number of foreigners per side from four to five to bridge the gap in the skill of different players.
Commenting on the appointment of Duncan Fletcher as the coach of the Indian team, Pollock said the key for him to be successful would all depend on whether he is able to strike a chord with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"I have never played under Duncan, never played in a team under him, never been coached by him, so it would be unfair for me to comment on what type of coach he is. I suppose because of all his experience, he's been with a couple of teams, a couple at the international level as well. He's got a lot of experience," he said.
Pollock added: "It all depends on how he works with Indian skipper M S Dhoni and what sort of rapport he has with the players. I'm sure he will give Gary a call and if Eric Simmons is involved they will come up with a plan. I would expect him to be pretty good."
Pollock hoped his team, which plays three matches in the next seven days - two in Mumbai and one in Navi Mumbai - will ensure it wins all the games to book a spot in the play-offs.
"We would love to work it that way. That's ideally how I wanted. But we are taking it one game at a time. In this tournament we can't think too far ahead. We have to come back to Mumbai. We are looking forward to Monday's game," he said ahead of his team's clash with Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede stadium on Monday.
Mumbai Indians have registered five victories from seven games so far. Pollock felt that though Punjab have strong batting, his team could put them under pressure by taking early wickets.
"They have got some depth as well. Ideally, if we get some early wickets we can put them under pressure," he added.
