Kieron Pollard, the West Indies all-rounder, last featured in a one-day international in October 2016 and his final ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup appearance came in the 2011 edition. However, the 31-year-old will hope splendid returns in the Indian Premier League this year pave his way into the Windies’ World Cup squad.
Pollard, one of the most popular figures in the IPL, showed on Wednesday, April 10, why he is one of the most-loved Mumbai players. The all-rounder, who was captain in Rohit Sharma’s absence, smashed a 31-ball 83 against Kings XI Punjab, taking his side to victory almost single-handedly at the Wankhede Stadium.
An unbeaten 100 from KL Rahul saw Punjab set a target of 198 for the hosts and at one point, it seemed like they had the game in the bag after Mumbai struggled to switch gears halfway through the chase. Mumbai were 65/3 after 10 overs, and stuttered to 109/4 in 13. The run-rate escalated quickly, crossing 13.5 at one point in the chase.
The task cut out for Mumbai seemed almost improbable at one stage. Pollard, however, changed the landscape of the innings, smashing three fours and ten sixes in his powerful innings.
“Pollard is a legend! One guy who could do this, it was Kieron Pollard,” gushed Hardik Pandya. “That time and situation needed both of us had to go for it but I could not connect much today. Pollard was backing himself and for the first time in my life while sitting outside I thought 17 per over is a par score.”
ollard has been in impressive form recently, notching up scores of 17*, 46* and 83* in his last three innings. At 31, he remains a livewire in the field and a solid pace option with the ball. His consistent returns in the IPL might make him a real candidate for West Indies to consider ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
While the Windies have a range of death-over power-hitters in the likes of Andre Russell and Carlos Brathwaite, Pollard’s experience might push his case for the World Cup squad. He has 2289 ODI runs at 25.71 with a highest score of 119 and strike-rate over 92.
Does he think he can make it to the 15-member squad? “The most I can do every time I step on the cricket field is try to put runs on the board,” he told the reporters. “There are people there who have the job to select and let’s see how that goes. As I said, I’m 31 years, Chris Gayle is still playing, he’s 39, and he’s whacking it all around.”
