The Rise of Kieron Pollard in T20 Cricket
The name of Kieron Pollard strikes an immediate fear in the minds of the opponents. His fiery batting in the middle order and the ability extract bounce from his medium pace bowling makes him one of the most sought-after player in the T20 format of the game. His strike rate is a whopping 169 in the T20 format and that makes him a dangerous batsman towards the end of the innings.
Only recently in the ongoing Carib T20 tournament, Pollard smacked a 20-ball half century to guide his Trinidad and Tobago to a win over Leeward Islands. This was one of the most brutal innings played in West Indian cricket, surpassing even the century that Chris Gayle had smacked in the first game of the ICC World T20 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in 2007.
Pollard started his career representing Trinidad and Tobago in the 2005 TCL group West Indies under-19 challenge. Thereafter, he was selected as a part of the West Indian under-19 cricket team to tour http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. He had a decent tour there and that prompted the selectors to get him into the West Indian squad for the 2009 U-19 Cricket World Cup. He did not get a move on with the bat, but was successful with the ball.
Pollard arrived to the senior league when he represented Trinidad and Tobago in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Cayman-Islands-c2867 in July 2006. He managed to impress with both bat and the ball in the tournament. His most impressive innings came in the semi-final against Nevis, where he top-scored with 83 runs of just 38 balls, a knock that had seven sixes, thereby booking Trinidad and Tobago’s place in the finals.
Six months later, Pollard’s marked his entry in first-class cricket with a fine century, scoring 126 runs for Trinidad, against the Barbados. Being a prolific striker of the cricket ball, the majority of his runs (86 out of 126) came in the form of boundaries. His dream run continued with half centuries in both, the four-day and 50-over matches against Guyana, followed by his second first-class century (117) against the Leeward Islands.
There were six sixes in his knock and the 100 came off only 71 balls. Pollard showcased his bowling ability against Jamaica, where he claimed four wickets in his seven overs, thereby claiming his fifth man of the match in his 15th major cricket match.
He made an equally impressive start in List-A cricket blasting 87 on his debut, against Guyana, which included three consecutive sixes in one of the overs.
The success of Pollard in the domestic leagues caught the eye of the selectors and it earned him a place in the provisional 30-man squad for the upcoming World Cup in 2007. He was later selected in the 15-man squad for the World Cup, 2007.
In the 2006-07 KFC Cup in West Indies, Pollard finished the tournament as the competition’s highest run scorer, scoring 261 runs in his seven innings at an average of over 40. Trinidad and Tobago won the tournament easily without losing a single game in the series.
In the 2008-09 edition of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 Cricket Board Cup, Pollard’s bowling outshone many of the other well-known bowlers, as he claimed nine wickets in the tournament at an average of 14.22.
Trinidad & Tobago qualified for the Champions League T20 and Pollard hit the headlines when he scored 54 runs off just 18 balls against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 and won his side a game that was lost for all practical purposes.
Following his impressive stint at the Champions League and the Big Bash, Pollard was the most sought after player at the third IPL auction held in Mumbai. He fetched the maximum allowed bid of $750,000. Pollard’s start to IPL was scratchy but he finally lived up to the expectations of Mumbai when his brutal innings against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820’s place in the final four of the IPL.
Pollard was also signed by both South Australian Redbacks and the Somerset Sabres for their respective domestic 2010 T20 tournaments. And the way it is going, it looks like he could be the most sought-after cricketer in the upcoming IPL auctions in September.
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