Kieron Pollard will turn 35 one month from now and resigns as a veteran of 123 ODIs and 101 T20I matches from a fierce time of West Indies cricket who were continually in a battle with their cricketers over player contracts.
However, Former West indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree and Trinidad and Tobago Red Force head coach, David Furlong, was left brokenhearted as his Kieron Pollard declared his retirement from international cricket, late on Wednesday, 20 April.
They ( Badree and David Furlong ) believe the pressure of playing cricket amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could have played a role in Kieron Pollard’s decision to quit international cricket.
“[It will] be all speculation from me, not having any intimate knowledge, but certainly his injury with his knee, certainly with COVID and bubble life, [and] the pressures that come with captaincy,” said Badree
“[The West Indies] performances in white-ball cricket, particularly the recent World Cup, have not been the best. Taking all those things into consideration, I think he came up with his decision.”
The 34-year-old Pollard, who made his ODI debut back in 2007, fittingly played his last series against India, a country which has become his second home due to his long association with Mumbai Indians.
While he is a feared T20 cricketer, one of the finest that the world has seen, his numbers for the West Indies remain underwhelming with only 2706 runs at just above 26 and 55 wickets from 123 ODIs along with 1569 runs from 101 T20Is at an average of shade over 25. He also took 44 wickets.
West Indies are set to tour the Netherlands at the end of next month and then travel to Pakistan for another series shortly afterwards, and Badree believes Nicholas Pooran will be front-runner to replace Pollard as captain.
“He has been the vice-captain of the T20 team and, with the experience he has now in franchise cricket around the world, and the fact that the West Indies selectors have given him the vice-captaincy in terms of succession planning, he’ll come to mind from the T20 standpoint,” said Badree,
“I know Shai Hope was the vice-captain of the ODI team. So, if you’re looking at separate captains, you have those two. But if you’re looking at a single captain, maybe Nicholas Pooran can be the captain of both [teams].” He Added
Pollard’s IPL debut in 2010. There he acquired the Mumbai Indians for IND Rs 5.40 crore as an all-rounder and since then he has only represented the Mumbai Indians.
Although his talents are more or less seen in every edition, this time he is still struggling to come among the talents. He has scored only 82 runs in 6 innings and 25 is his highest score this season.