… Only skipper in ‘bubble’ with most games, runs in T20s

By Clifton Ross

TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) commander Kieron Pollard has stood out as the best captain in the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to date, having led his team to 8 consecutive wins inside the ‘bubble’, as other franchises struggle to get their footing.

This season has now entered its crunch stages and while TKR’s future with regard to how they will finish is still uncertain, Pollard deserves his dues as one of the premier franchise leaders on show to date, with an unblemished win ratio after 8 games.

Pollard has already tasted victory having won back in 2014 with Barbados Tridents. A younger, less tactical Pollard at that time, still managed to sheriff his troops to a title and came even closer in 2015 when they narrowly missed out on winning back-to-back title; finishing as runners-up.

Such experience has been on display this year and while the 33-year-old is currently engaged in battles with a few other credible franchise captains, his genius as a tactical leader and ability to utilise the familiarity of the home conditions in the bubble has further buffed his rank.

Coming up against the likes of Darren Sammy, with whom Pollard has won T20 World Cup titles in the past, and his St Lucia Zouks currently trailing TKR in 2nd spot by mere 4 points; TKR have seemingly put a stranglehold on the competition.

It could be argued that alleged rumours of TKR training and practising outside of the bubble, which occurred when other franchises were kept in their hotels, abiding by the bio-secure measures, if true, could be another key reason why they have been so ruthless.

However, advantage or not, the team’s number of stars are either homegrown or have been with the franchise for a few seasons now, adding to their familiarity with the culture and inevitably the conditions of being encamped in Trinidad & Tobago during past editions of the tournament.

Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, his younger brother Darren, Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine, Amir Jangoo, Akeal Hosein, Kharry Pierre and Anderson Phillips are all Trinidadians and either played/play club, regional franchise cricket or international cricket at some point or the other with one another over the years. The stars like the Bravo brothers, especially Dwayne along with Pollard, Simmons, Narine are all highly-accredited world-class T20 stars with good chemistry among themselves.

Pollard alone has represented franchises around the globe like Adelaide Strikers, Australian Cricketers Association All-Stars, Barbados Tridents, Cape Cobras, Deccan Gladiators, Dhaka Dynamites, Dhaka Gladiators Karachi Kings, Kerala Kings, Melbourne Renegades, Multan Sultans, Mumbai Indians and more with huge success.

With more than 10 000 T20 runs and over 500 appearances in T20s alone, it is no wonder Pollard has been leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, as his worldwide wealth of knowledge in T20 cricket sticks out even among a bevy of decorated leaders.

Captain Sammy, who has played more than 300 T20s and has more than 3 500 runs, is arguably the next best leader in the bubble this season. St Kitts Patriots skipper Rayad Emrit is another T20 gun-for-hire and has played for a long list a franchises, but even he only managed to clip the 140-plus game mark while his runs column is thousands of runs behind his countryman Pollard’s.

Defending champs boss Jason Holder is another player who had been exposed primarily to T20 cricket in his younger days, being MS Dohni’s go-to fast-bowler back in the days of the mighty Chennai Super Kings IPL reign.

With representation of more than 10 franchises under his belt, the Windies Test skipper is still considerably far away from reaching Pollard’s numbers, having barely gone past the 100-game mark with close to 1 000 runs while hovering close to the 100-wicket mark.

All-rounder Rovman Powell, Jamaica Tallawahs captain with more than 1 000 runs but yet to play 100 matches and Guyana Amazon Warriors Chris Green who is new to his role are probably the least experienced of the six franchise captains and are nowhere close to Pollard’s overwhelming numbers.

Even overseas imports like Colin Munro and Ali Khan have found a home with TKR over the years and despite this season being Pollard’s first run as skipper; the current team record and the brand of cricket they have been playing is a reflection of the captain’s presence, coupled with his immense wealth of T20 know-how.

In the end, it will be left to witness if TKR under their new, yet seemingly not-new leadership of Pollard, along with the huge plus of playing all their games at home, can continue on their unbeaten run and go all the way and capture the title this year.