Pollard 6 Sixes

[Paulette Dzurilla]

Pollardstrode out to the crease in the fourth over after Akhila Dananjaya had dismissed Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran off consecutive deliveries to leave West Indies reeling at 52-3 in pursuit of 132.

But the West Indies skipper tore into unconventional off-spinner Dananjaya in his next over, taking 36 runs and becoming only the third man to hit six sixes in an international match, emulating Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh.

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Kieron Adrian Pollard (born 12 May 1987) is a former Trinidadian cricketer, who captained the West Indies cricket team in limited overs cricket. He currently plays in various T20 leagues around the globe as an all-rounder. He also captains MI Cape Town, MI Emirates and MI New York in the SA20, ILT20 and MLC respectively. He is currently serving as the batting coach of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.He is also the assistant coach of the England cricket team for the 2024 ICC World Twenty20. He was part of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 winning team for West Indies. During his period, he was one of the most aggressive batsman and he also has the record of six 6s in an over against Sri Lanka.

In September 2019, Pollard was named as the captain of the West Indies One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) teams.[1][2] In March 2020, he became the first cricketer to play in 500 Twenty20 matches.[3] His game has been suited for limited overs formats, in which he has enjoyed a long international career; he has never played Test Cricket.[4] In a match against Sri Lanka in March 2021, he hit six sixes in one over bowled by Akila Dananjaya and became the third batsman to do so in international cricket after Herschelle Gibbs and Yuvraj Singh.[5]

On April 20th, 2022, Pollard announced his retirement from international cricket.[7][8] On November 15th, 2022, Pollard announced his retirement from IPL after playing for Mumbai Indians for 13 seasons. He was then appointed as the batting coach for Mumbai Indians.

In the 2009 Champions league T-20 for Trinidad & Tobago, Pollard hit 54 runs in just 18 balls in the 15th match against New South Wales in Hyderabad. This earned the man of the match award and his side a crucial win. His display of hitting was so impressive that NSW approached Pollard after the game and attempted to sign him for themselves.[21]

On the back of Pollard's domestic performance, he was offered a central contract which he turned down because that would force him to be available for West Indies selection all the time and Pollard wanted to play Twenty20 cricket as well. Despite this his good performances meant that he was selected for the West Indies in the ODI and Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka as several high-profile names such as Denesh Ramdin and Ramnaresh Sarwan had been dropped.[30]

Pollard was recalled to the West Indies ODI squad for the series against Sri Lanka. The match was rained off after 18.2 overs of the West Indian run-chase with Pollard not required to bat.[31] He retained his place in the squad for the home series against Australia, but after scores of 11 and 0 in the first two matches, he was dropped for the final three.[citation needed]

Despite his poor form in the previous season's Stanford Twenty20, Pollard was named as part of the initial 32-member Stanford Superstars Twenty20 squad. The squad would provide the starters for the US$20 million winner-takes-all match against England later in the year.[32] After a series of practice matches, Pollard was included in the team for the warm-up match against his Trinidad and Tobago side, where he made 24 runs off 14 balls and claimed the wicket of captain Daren Ganga.[33] He followed this up with a nine-ball 27 against Middlesex, including three consecutive sixes in the last over.[34] In the final, Pollard claimed the wickets of Andrew Flintoff and Luke Wright to help limit England to a total of 99, which Super Stars openers Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher chased down in 12.4 overs.[35]

In May 2019, Cricket West Indies (CWI) named him as one of ten reserve players in the West Indies' squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[36][37] In December 2019, during the series against India, Pollard became the fourth batsman for the West Indies to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket.[38] On March 4, 2020, in the first T20I match against Sri Lanka, Pollard became the first cricketer to play in 500 Twenty20 matches.[39] In the same match, Pollard also scored his 10,000th run in the format.[40]

Pollard's impressive performance in the 2009 Champions League Twenty20 and the Big Bash led to him being one of the most sought after players at the 2010 IPL auction. After some aggressive bidding, the Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore all bid the maximum allowed; $750,000. A 'silent-tiebreaker' was won by the Mumbai Indians.[47]On 15 November 2022, Pollard announced his retirement from IPL after playing for Mumbai Indians for 13 seasons. Now he is appointed as batting coach for Mumbai Indians.[48]

Kieron Pollard made his debut for Mumbai Indians on 17 March 2010 against the Delhi Daredevils at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.[49] It took a while for him to get off the blocks in his first season.[quantify] He however proved his money's worth in the latter stages of the tournament with a blistering 13 ball 45 laced with 5 sixes and accounted for 2 run outs earning him his first MOTM performance.This was followed by a stellar performance against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the semi-final. Pollard smashed a quick fire 33* off 13 balls with 3 sixes and followed it up with 3 wickets and 1 run out. He was adjudged man of the match and his efforts propelled Mumbai Indians into the final for the first time where they eventually lost to the Chennai Super Kings.[citation needed]

2010 season was followed by 2 mediocre seasons for Pollard.In 2011 the only highlight was his brilliance in the field. In 2012 a sole Man of the match performance against Rajasthan Royals where he smashed a 33 ball 64 with 6 4s and 4 6s and followed it up with a career best 4-44in the 2nd innings.[citation needed]

Mumbai Indians got off to a disastrous start losing their first five games in UAE.Pollard smashed 78 off 48 balls whilst chasing against SRH but he was dismissed by Irfan Pathan in the last over and Mumbai eventually lost the match.[51]

This can be rightly called as Pollard's best season till date.[quantify] Similar to 2014 Mumbai had a forgettable start to the season managing only 1 win out of the first 6 matches.Pollard struck 70 runs off 48 balls with 7 boundaries and 5 sixes against Rajasthan but Mumbai lost the match. He followed it up with another 64 runs off just 34 balls smashing 5 sixes against Chennai but again Mumbai were unable to defend their total.Chasing against the Delhi Daredevils Pollard joined Rayudu and smashed a quck-fire 26* off just 14 balls and ensured victory.[citation needed]

In the same week, he smashed 49 off just 24 balls with 6 sixes but Mumbai were unable to chase RCB's mammoth total.In a must win game against Kolkata Pollard played a patient knock with Hardik Pandya and helped Mumbai reach 171.

Yusuf Pathan led the KKR chase with a brilliant half century and the equation was 12 runs required off the final over. Pollard with ball in his hand dismissed Pathan on the very first ball, conceded 6 runs in the next 2 balls but followed it up with 3 dot balls to help Mumbai to a crucial victory.[citation needed]

In the first qualifier at Wankhede against the Super Kings Pollard helped Mumbai post a massive total of 187 with 17 ball 41 with 5 sixes and helped Mumbai reach the final.In the final against the same opposition at Eden Gardens, Pollard added 36 off just 18 balls and helped MI reach a massive total of 202.[citation needed]

In his 11th consecutive year playing for the Mumbai Indians, Pollard became the first player to represent the franchise in 150 matches.[52] Pollard played a critical role in the team winning their 5th IPL title.[53] He was named the 'Super Striker of the Season' in IPL 2020.[54]

On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Toronto Nationals in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.[55][56] He was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament for the Toronto Nationals, with five dismissals in six matches.[57]

Pollard was bought by Karachi Kings for US$140,000 in 2017 Pakistan Super League players draft.[58] In a do or die match against Lahore Qalandars he scored 45 runs off 20 balls to help his team to stay in the tournament, later he was judged man of the match.[59] He played for Multan Sultans in PSL 3. He was picked by Peshawar Zalmi in 2019 Pakistan Super League players draft.[citation needed]

In The Hundred, Pollard played for Welsh Fire.[67] In April 2022, he was bought by the London Spirit for the 2022 season of The Hundred.[68] Pollard will play the 2022 T20 Blast season for Surrey.[69]

In November 2022, Pollard announced his retirement from IPL and subsequently became the batting coach of the same franchise, Mumbai Indians.[70] In December 2023, he was appointed as the assistant coach of England cricket team for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[71]

Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard is "sick and fed up" of people pinpointing particular individuals for the team's losses as he urged fans not to "nitpick" struggling captain Hardik Pandya after MI lost to Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs in their Indian Premier League match. CSK legend MS Dhoni took 26 runs off Pandya's final over with the help of three consecutive sixes as the MI skipper struggled for right line and length while also bowling two wides at a crucial time. (IPL 2024 Points Table)

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