The T20 World Cup is just around the corner and the fans are waiting excitedly for the tournament to begin. Ahead of the tournament, West Indies superstar all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who is currently playing for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League, named his top 5 T20 players.
On Wednesday, ICC via their official Twitter handle shared a video, where Pollard could be seen naming his top 5 T20 players. Sharing the video, ICC wrote:
“Three from the West Indies, and a player each from India and Sri Lanka Glowing star Kieron Pollard’s top five players boast #T20WorldCup titles and outstanding records”
Here, watch the video:
Three from the West Indies, and a player each from India and Sri Lanka ?
Kieron Pollard’s top five players boast #T20WorldCup titles and outstanding records ?https://t.co/Lwivepgp9n
— ICC (@ICC) October 6, 2021
In the video, Kieron was asked to pick “First 5 players you’d pick in a World T20 Cup XI, and why?“. Responding to this, Pollard named West Indies legend Chris Gayle as his first choice. He said: “Firstly, Christopher Henry Gayle, Universe Boss. Over fourteen thousand runs in T20 cricket with 22 centuries. Definitely number 1,”
Pollard then named Sri Lankan bowling superstar Lasith Malinga as his choice for the pace department and again turned to a West Indies player to lead the spin department. He named Sunil Narine as his third choice and said:
“Secondly, Lasith Malinga. King of Yorkers. From a spinning perspective, Sunil Narine. Again, the king of spin. He started it off, bowling in the powerplay and bowling in the end. He has been fantastic,”
Further, Pollard chose his long-time international and IPL rival MS Dhoni for wicket-keeper-batter. He also showered praises at MS Dhoni for the brilliant cricketer that he is. He said:
“So, now I have to take care of my wicket-keeping and batting sort of position. I will go with MS Dhoni. Great thinker, great finisher, feared batter in the back end,”
Pollard also went on to name himself as his fifth choice and said that his record in the shortest format of the game speaks for itself. He said:
“Number 5, if it’s my world XI T20 then I got to be there, I’ve got to play. I will be number 5 and my record speaks for itself when it comes to T20 cricket,”
He also went on to say that DJ Bravo is also very close to his Top 5 and reminded that a team needs eleven players and not 5. He said:
“That’s my 5 and Bravo, yes he is there and thereabouts. There is only five for now but remember a team is made up of 11,”
Meanwhile, after the Indian Premier League 2021, Kieron Pollard will be seen leading defending champions West Indies in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
