Kieron Pollard is known as one of the most dangerous batsman in T20 cricket. His records in the shortest format of the game speaks for itself. In franchise and club cricket, he is next only to Chris Gayle when it comes to destruction of the bowlers. Like Gayle, he too can hit sixes at will. However, Gayle being an opener, gets more chances to play unlike Pollard who bats in the lower middle order.
The 34 year old strongly built man from Trinidad, Pollard has played in every T20 cricket league of the world. Moreover, he has represented more than 20 teams in his career, that began in 2007. Pollard announced himself to the world when he smashed 54 runs in 18 balls against a string bowling line up of Australian New South Wales.
It was a group game of Champions league and Pollard’s team Trinidad looked down and out of the match while chasing a huge score. Then the right hander showed his hitting range and smacked the bowlers while taking his team to victory. The effect of this was that he instantly became a superstar in T20 cricket and was bought next year by Mumbai Indians in the IPL auction. Since then, he hasn’t looked back for them.
Last year, he became the first man in cricket to play 500 matches in T20. While doing this, he outdid even Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, another two T20 stalwarts. It is a testimony to his longevity and consistency in the shortest format of cricket.
As of now, Pollard has made 10797 runs in 541 matches. He averages 31.75 with a punishing strike rate of 153. Moreover, he has thumped 726 sixes in this format, next only to Chris Gayle.
First ball 6 for Polly
Pollard goes by the nickname of ‘Polly’ in international cricket. The burly right hander made his debut in T20 against Australia in T20 in 2008, but could not get the chance to bat. He got his time at the crease in his next match, against New Zealand.
Jeetan Patel, the off spinner was bowling when Pollard came to the crease. The first ball to Pollard was a harmless full delivery at the pads. However, the batsman showed no signs of nervousness while dealing with it. He casually flicked it away into the leg side for a 6 over leg side! It was a scintillating display of confidence by Pollard and he had presented himself at the word stage in some style.
Watch the video of his 6 here:
