Newly-elected West Indies 'White Ball' captain Kieron Pollard has gotten the approval of local cricket pundits who thinks that he can start a turn around in the fortunes of West Indies cricket.
Pollard, 32, takes over the 50 overs side from Test captain Jason Holder and the T20 team from Carlos Brathwaite. At the moment the West Indies are languishing close to the bottom of the ICC rankings in both formats, so he will have a mighty task on his hands.
President of the T&T Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath was thrilled with the appointment saying: "Pollard has had success at all these leagues around the world and granted that it is not the same level as international cricket, it is still of the top quality. At times he has led different teams and has shown his capability as a leader. I feel that he will get the players to respond and we are confident that we will have a change of fortunes."
He continued: "We have a World T20 tournament next year in October and then the next 50 overs World Cup in 2023. We need to start planning for this and we have started by instilling a solid leader who is very capable of moulding an effective unit."
Jeffrey Guillen who was Pollard's long-time manager at Queen's Park made an appearance at the press conference yesterday and said that the selection was the right one and though it has come late, Pollard will still turn around the fortunes of the team.
Guillen said: "Kieron is a good leader and we have seen this all the while. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and can help the young crop of players we have."
Also happy with the appointment is TKR manager Colin Borde: "I have known Polly all his playing days and one thing I can say is that he gives it his all. He is always giving that superhuman effort and this can rub off on the players under his charge. so far he has done a very good job as a replacement for our regular captain Dwayne Bravo in the CPL and he has gotten the players to buy into his philosophy. Although he is a hurricane batsman, what impresses me is his calm assurance on the field of play. We have seen him take difficult situations and turn it around many times. Good selection by the powers at be to have him lead the West Indies team in ODIs and T20s. (Vinode Mamchan)