A natural leader

WEST INDIES coach Phil Simmons has backed new Twenty20 (T20) and One Day International (ODI) captain Kieron Pollard to silence his critics, especially with the bat as the campaign for the World T20 crown in Australia kicks into high gear in just under a year .

Simmons, returning to the fold after leading the team to the World T20 title in 2016, believes it’s not just Pollard’s experience, but his willingness to absorb pressure and respond in kind which will shape him as a difference-maker. With the West Indies as defending champs, Simmons is relying, and confidently so, on the expertise he’s shown with various global franchises such as Mumbai Indians to come to the fore.

“A lot of people write him off,” Simmons told ESPN. “The pressure always makes him stand up. If you look at his career, every time he’s under pressure he stands up and he shows ‘look, I’ve had a blip, but I’m back’. His experience in general, and not just the knowledge, but also his ability to involve all the players and his ability to give players challenges but at the same time be on their side – that natural leadership is there. It is something that he will bring a lot to the team.”

Pollard played for the West Indies T20 team against India last August, topping the three-match series’ scoring charts with knocks of 58, eight and 49, not to mention he skippered the Trinbago Knight Riders to the semis of the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League recently. There, “Polly” finished fifth on the batting charts with 349 runs at an average over 58 and a strike-rate over 159, with six wickets to his name in 12 matches. While he hasn’t played an ODI since 2016, Simmons joins legends such as Sir Vivian Richards in supporting Pollard to make his return count big time, especially as a captain in both formats.

“It showed in the T20Is with India. He took the reins and led in those. That’s what I expect from him: that responsibility of being captain is going to make him want to always be on top of the runs and leading from the front. He is that kind of a leader -- even though he asks you to do something, it is not something he wouldn’t do or he wouldn’t want to do,” Simmons added.

Pollard’s first assignment as the new skipper will be a three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in India, followed by three T20 matches. Jason Holder will then lead the side in a one-off Test against the same opposition in Lucknow, before the Windies rally for another white-ball series against India, which comprises three T20s and three ODIs.

However, Simmons has maintained he doesn’t want to see Pollard batting much because in the shorter-formats it would mean his top-order wouldn’t be clicking. “I expect a lot of runs to come from him. Hopefully he doesn’t get to bat where he’s batting much because the top order should be performing now – they have been around for a while in both those two forms,” Simmons concluded.