Kieron Pollard to take over as West Indies’ limited overs captain

The first quarterly board meeting of the Cricket West Indies in the new season was held in Trinidad and Tobago on the seventh and eighth of September, where decisions were made on several structural changes. It included a close scrutiny of the selection procedures across all formats and levels of the sport in the country by the Selection Task Force, based on which recommendations were made to the Board.

The first important announcement came in the form of Kieron Pollard being handed the responsibility of leading the team in ODIs and T20Is. Even though he hasn’t played an international fifty-over game since 2016, he’ll be replacing Jason Holder in the role while taking over from Carlos Braithwaite in the shortest format. Holder will continue as the red-ball captain.

"He's a very important force and is still going to be our red-ball captain. Holder will now compete for a place in Pollard's team and use this as an opportunity to become a better cricketer. Pollard is the right man at the right time to take our white-ball teams forward,” CWI President Ricky Skerritt stated, reported Cricbuzz.

Pollad has 101 ODIs and 62 T20Is under his belt and the 32-year-old is one of the most sought after players in the T20 circuit. His first test will be in the form of three ODIs and T20s against Afghanistan in November, to be held in India.

"I've played franchise all over the world and I hope to use this experience to help the West Indies in my role as captain. In the short term as captain, the immediate aim is to defend the T20 World Cup. One of the discussions I hope to have is to bring back the idea of specialists playing in their best positions," Pollard said.

Meanwhile, the Board also expressed its interest in appointing a new permanent head coach, with the deadline for submitting applications set as the 20th of September. A comprehensive shakedown of the selection process was also announced,

“It was a surprise to all of us in the Selection Task Force that West Indies never had a selection policy," CWI Vice President Shallow said.

“One of the things we found in our One-Day team shortcomings is over 50 players were picked between the 2015 & 2019 World Cups. It made little sense and the results showed. We want our players to play in world leagues to strengthen their game in different conditions. They will not have to sacrifice CPL and IPL to play for the West Indies, both can coexist with mutual benefits," Skerritt concluded.