Kieron Pollard should have been appointed as skipper earlier, states Sir Viv Richards
Legendary West Indies batsman Sir Vivian Richards is glad of the decision to put all-rounder Kieron Pollard at the helm of the limited-overs teams. Richards shared that he's been impressed by Pollard's captaincy since the very first season of CPL and believes his inventiveness will help the team.
Former West Indies captain Sir Viv Richards has expressed his joy on the appointment of Kieron Pollard as the captain of the Windies limited-overs sides. The hard-hitting all-rounder was handed over the leadership position last month and is all set to lead the side for the first time against a tricky Afghanistan side in a week's time.
Sir Viv opines that the politics in the last regime of the governing body delayed Pollard's ascension to the leadership position. Pollard's first assignment as the skipper would be three ODIs and three T20Is against Afghanistan starting from November 5 in India.
"I've always felt he should have been a bit earlier,” Sir Vivian told the Line and Length cricket podcast according to a Jamaica Observer report.
“I guess the politics with the last regime and the things that obviously went down in India, and some of these guys in my opinion were blacklisted from playing the role that they should and helping to move the team forward, and I think because of those political issues, it didn't quite help the progress.”
The hard hitter is not only a seasoned campaigner but also an experienced leader as he lead Barbados Tridents in five Carribean Premier League seasons, winning the cup in 2014, St. Lucia Stars last season while now he captains his home team, the Trinbago Knight Riders. It was his leadership in the CPL which impressed Richards a lot.
“When I first saw him in the first CPL tournament we had in the region, he was in my opinion the best captain, no disrespect to Carlos and like that,” he said.
“Carlos is a very highly competitive individual and would have won us a World Cup off his bat but he was put in that position for political reasons and I think he would understand that as well because I think he is very sensible and knowledgeable.
“So I have no issues with Kieron Pollard. I believe he brings inventiveness and is proactive more than anything else which I think can help at times.”