Kieron Pollard with the duct tape on his mouth. (File)
During a 2015 Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI), West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard protested by placing duct tape over his mouth.
When Chris Gayle opened for RCB, facing a target of 210, Pollard began attempting to unsettle him from the first over.
The on-field umpires, Richard Illingworth and Vineet Kulkarni, expressed their disapproval and instructed Pollard to cease his verbal exchanges. Instead of simply stopping, Pollard applied duct tape to his mouth, a gesture more commonly associated with public protests. He maintained this silent protest until he began bowling the final over of the match, at which point he removed the tape.
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Taping his lips was his way of indicating to the umpires that he would refrain from talking or sledging. When he needed to communicate with a teammate, Pollard briefly removed a portion of the tape, conveyed his message, and then promptly reapplied it.
Mumbai Indians won the match by 18 runs.
Harbhajan Singh, who was named Man of the Match, was asked for his opinion on the incident.
“The umpire told him to stay quiet, so he wanted to ensure he put the tape on his mouth and was quiet. He is a bit of a character. He likes to do things like that. The IPL brings out the best flavors of the West Indies boys, and this was something very different and unique, which was in good taste,” the off-spinner said after the match.
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