IPL 2020: 'Deep down he must be disappointed to not have donned India blue,' says Pollard after Suryakumar's heroics vs RCB

Mumbai Indians (MI) stand in skipper Kieron Pollard said that Suryakumar Yadav must be "very very disappointed" to not have donned the blue for India yet.

Two days after Suryakumar was once again ignored by the selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), led by former Indian spinner Sunil Joshi, the Mumbai batsman produced another fine knock. He remained unbeaten on 79 from 43 and led MI to a five wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their latest Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 meeting on Wednesday. With the win at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, defending champions MI became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of this edition.

Suryakumar was not selected in India's 18-man squad for their upcoming four-month tour of Australia, where Virat Kohli and Co are set to play three ODIs, three T20Is, and four-Test Border Gavaskar series. Suryakumar's exclusion attracted criticism from former players such as Harbhajan Singh, Manoj Tiwary, and Dilip Vengsarkar, who questioned the decision behind leaving the batsman out.

The 30-year-old's stand in captain Pollard said it must be difficult for Suryakumar knowing that he has to continue to wait for his maiden India call-up despite his consistent performances across all formats in the domestic circuit and in the IPL.

"Deep down inside he must be very, very disappointed to not have donned the blue for India. He just keeps getting better. Again, as an individual, if you keep staying consistent, you will be rewarded. Nothing happens before its time. There is discussion around my batting position, I would love to be up there, taking the runs and hitting the runs, but we have to do what is the best for the team," Pollard said during a post-match interview.

Suryakumar has been a consistent performer for MI over the years since he returned to the franchise ahead of the 2018 season. In 2018, he scored 512 runs and followed that with another great season in 2019, where he accumulated 424 runs.

Speaking further about Suryakumar's performance on Wednesday, where he came in to bat at 52 for 2 during MI's chase of 165, Pollard added," We lost a few wickets but Surya took us home. Imagine someone batting at that strike rate after two early wickets."

"I am big on match-ups in a way. I also watch a lot of cricket. I took a punt and bowled at AB. I could have waited for the last over but if someone has to go for runs, I thought I'd take it. Bumrah continues to keep standing up throughout the tournament. But again, we have been playing total team cricket. Somebody is always there to pick up the slack," Pollard added about MI's performance.

KL Rahul is the leading run-scorer at the ongoing IPL 2020, who was also named the vice-captain of India's limited-overs side for the Australia tour in the absence of injured Rohit Sharma. In 12 matches, Suryakumar has scored 362 runs at an average of 40.22.