The West Indies captain Kieron Pollard is hopeful that Universe Boss Chris Gayle will deliver a good performance for the team in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.
The marquee T20 World Cup tournament is all set to commence from 17 October in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Defending champions West Indies will commence their journey with a battle against England on October 23 at the Dubai International Stadium.
The West Indies Skipper said he has no word to describe the impact of Chris Gayle in T20 cricket.
“Again, no words to describe what he has done for us in World Cups, in the T20 World Cups, and T20 cricket around the world as an individual,” Pollard said during a captains’ media session
The Universe Boss Chris Gayle is just 97 runs away from becoming the leading run-scorer in T20 World Cups. However, Pollard has opined that Gayle’s main focus will not be becoming the highest run-scorer but to help his team win yet another World Cup. He stated:
“For him, 97 runs away, but I don’t think he will be looking at that. I think the main goal for us and him, is trying to win a World Cup and defend the title. He is looking forward to that. Hopefully, he can come and deliver for us. We back him to do well,”
Talking about the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) Pollard said it was good to get a taste of the UAE surface. Kieron Pollard asserted:
“I thought it was good for us and again not only as but all the players who are involved in this World Cup. Get an opportunity to get a feel for what the UAE has to offer.
“I am sure some interesting sort of stats, comparisons, different sort of trends might have come out of the recently-concluded IPL,”
“So, the other thing about that consideration, take the context of the surfaces, the atmosphere, and put it within your game plan and try to plan to code the opposition.
“For us, most of our guys got an opportunity to recently play here in the IPL in the UAE and we are looking forward to hit the ground running and start on that sort of positive note and get that first two points and see what happens after that,”
We Are Excited And Looking Forward For Another Opportunity To Try To Defend This Trophy – Kieron Pollard
Team West Indies won the 2016 T20 World Cup tournament with all-rounder Carlos Braithwaite smashing four back-to-back sixes off England all-rounder Ben Stokes in the final over at Eden Ground which shattered the dreams of England to win their second World T20 title. Recalling the moment Pollard said he was not the part of 2016 edition of the World Cup because he was out to due an injury. He asserted:
“Unfortunately I wasn’t there because of injury but I think the way the guys played in that game and through that tournament was fantastic, Carlos at the back end hitting those four sixes in that last over, a lot of memories overcome because of that.”
Kieron Pollard signed off by saying they are looking forward to defending their title by playing good cricket. He stated:
“We are excited and looking forward for another opportunity to try to defend this trophy,”
“We are looking forward to trying to play complete games of cricket and let results take care of itself,”
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