Kieron Pollard

One chilly October evening in Hyderabad, New South Wales took on Trinidad and Tobago in a group fixture in the Champions League T20. Chasing a formidable 170, T&T were down in the dumps at 91/5 in the thirteenth over. And then came a whirlwind and knocked the sails out of New South Wales’ boat. With 55 required to win off the last five overs, Kieron Pollard played a gem of a knock as T&T got to the target comfortably with 9 balls to spare.  He made an unbeaten 55 of 18 deliveries which included 5 fours and 5 huge sixes. A new star was born.

Pollard, who was born and raised in the land of Brian Charles Lara, apart from being an aggressive middle order batsman and a medium pace bowler, is also one of the best fielders in world cricket today. After representing West Indies in the 2006 U-19 World Cup, he made his senior debut for T&T in the Stanford T20 and hit the news when he smashed 83 of just 38 balls in the semifinals. He celebrated his first class debut by scoring a century on debut against the Barbados. He was selected in the provisional 30 man West Indian squad for the 2007 World Cup and his continued impressive domestic performance fetched him a surprise call in the final 15 member team. He made his ODI debut in the Super eights stage against South Africa where the West Indies lost by 67 runs as he went wicketless and could manage only 10 runs with the willow.

Back home, Pollard’s all round efforts helped Trinidad and Tobago clinch the 2008-09 West Indies Cricket Board cup but it was the Champions League T20 in 2009 which made the world sit up and take notice of this dynamic all rounder. He finished the tournament with 146 runs at an average of 36.50 and a tremendous strike rate of 197.29. This impressive performance led him to becoming the most expensive player in the IPL as Mumbai Indians paid $750,000 to secure his services. He had quite a silent IPL until he came up with a dazzling show to win the man of the match in the semifinals and his hard hitting almost took Mumbai across the finish line in the final. He was also signed up by the South Australian Redbacks for the KFC T20 competition and he played a vital role as they finished runners up.

The Champions League 2010 was a disappointing affair for the Mumbai Indians fans as they crashed out in the first round but Pollard fans will never forget the pummeling he gave Guyana as he scored 72* of just 30 balls including 9 monstrous sixes. His mind boggling 128 meter hit is the biggest six ever recorded since sixes started being measured.

His destructive batting ability makes it easy to forget his handy medium pace bowling and also the fact that he’s one of the safest fielders. If he continues playing the way he is, Pollard could well be the man to watch out for in the upcoming World Cup to be held in the sub continent.

By: Monish Menon

Tags: Cricket, Kieron Pollard, MI, Mumbai Indians, New South Wales, NSW, Sports, T&T, Trinidad and Tobago