The much-awaited T20 World Cup is set to begin on October 17 in Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Teams have already started landing in the Gulf nation for their warm-up fixtures. Ahead of the global showpiece event, many pundits and experts of the game have gone with their favourite teams and players that will excel in the multi-team tournament.
Following the similar trend, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has picked five superstars he’d have in his World T20 XI. Pollard went with an explosive opener, an all-time great finisher, a scintillating spinner, and an ace pacer before naming himself the all-rounder in the side.
The first on the list of Pollard’s top five T20 cricketers was his teammate Chris Gayle. The ‘Universe Boss’ needs no introduction about the superman abilities he carries. Gayle has 1854 runs to his name in 74 T20 Internationals (T20Is). Overall in all T20s, including the franchise cricket, the Jamaican owns the top position with as many as 14,276 runs in 448 matches.
Pollard went with Sri Lanka legend Lasith Malinga as the second player on his list. With 107 scalps in 84 games, Malinga is the leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Overall, in the shortest format, the Galle-lad has taken 390 wickets in 295 matches.
“Firstly, Christopher Henry Gayle, Universe Boss, obviously over 14,000 runs in T20 cricket, so definitely the number one. Secondly, Lasith Malinga, the king of yorkers,” said Pollard n a video shared by ICC.
For the lone spinner, Pollard picked another West Indian great, Sunil Narine. The mystery spinner who likes to bamboozle the opponents with his bowling, Narine is the perfect choice in any T20 side. In overall T20s, Narine is the third-highest wicket-taker with 419 scalps in 379 matches.
“From a spinning perspective, Sunil Narine. King of spin, bowling at the powerplays, bowling at the end, he has been fantastic,” explained Polly.
For the wicket-keeper position, the Trinidadian went with one of the best finishers of the game, MS Dhoni. The former India captain made 6905 runs in the shortest format in 344 matches. Pollard termed MSD as the great thinker and a finisher of the game.
“So, now I have to take care of the wicketkeeping-batting sort of position, and I go to MS Dhoni. Great thinker, great finisher, fiery batter in the back end,” added Pollard.
Pollard picked himself in the side for the fifth and last spot, stating that he has tremendous T20 records. The Windies skipper is surely not wrong as he is the second-highest run-getter (11,223) in overall T20s and 11th-highest wicket-taker (300).
“Number 5, if it’s my World XI T20, then I gotta be there, I gotta play, I will be number five. So, my records speak for itself when it comes to T20 cricket,” Pollard added further.
