XtraTime Web Desk: Former West Indian legend Michael Holding once opined that Trinidadian Kieron Pollard was not a cricketer. For purists like Holding it was players like Pollard who led to the decline of test cricket in the Caribbean. From being raised in the poverty stricken Maloney Gardens to becoming a millionaire cricketer, the rise of Kieron Pollard is no less inspiring. The 6 ft 4 inches tall giant cricketer from Trinidad was born on this day in 1987.
Pollard was born in a poor family in a place called Maloney Gardens which was synonymous with drugs and violence. He was raised alongside two younger sisters by his single mother. Growing up in a place where there was also a lot of sport being played alongside the crimes, a young Pollard chose the first path. It was sport that gave Pollard’s life meaning and direction as it offered him a motivation during his struggles early days.
The fact that Pollard was always big for his age worked as an advantage for him. He made his debut for West Indies U-19 side while he was in secondary school in 2006. Six months later, he made his first-class debut against Barbados. He soon caught the eyes of the selectors in a match where he scored 86 runs off boundaries in his knock of 126 runs. Later in the same year he went on to play his first professional T20 match for Trinidad & Tobago against Cayman Islands in the T20 league started by millionaire Allen Stanford. The hard hitting approach by Pollard influenced the selectors to pick him for the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.
He had a forgetful ODI debut against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup, scoring just 10 runs off 17 balls and going wicket less. He did not get another opportunity in the tournament. The inaugural World T20 in South Africa in September 2007 and the lucrative Indian Premier League in 2008 were the perfect platforms for Pollard to showcase his exploits.
His exploits with the bat for T&T in the 2009 Champions League clash against New South Wales announced his arrival in the twenty-twenty format. He smashed 5 sixes in his innings of 54 off 18 balls to help his side to secure a win.
Pollard had often found himself in the wrong side of the relationship with the West Indies Cricket Board resulting in getting his central contract turned down. His disputes with the WICB also resulted in him not being a part of the 2015 World Cup in Australia.
Ever since joining IPL side Mumbai Indians in 2010, life changed for the Trinidadian cricketer. He has since been an integral member of MI, helping them to lift the IPL titles in 2013, 2015 and 2019 seasons.
Pollard’s exploits is not limited to IPL as he has also played with supreme authority for teams like Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, Dhaka dynamites in the BPL and Karachi Kings in the PSL. He became the first player in the history of T20 cricket to feature in 500 matches when he took the field against Sri Lanka on March 04, 2020.
Whether Kieron Pollard will be remembered as a T20 legend or as a mercenary, it is for the fans to decide.