BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC- Barbados Tridents Captain Kieron Pollard has received a ringing endorsement from head coach Desmond Haynes and all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite as the countdown continues to the start of the inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL)
Haynes, a former West Indies opening batsman and Braithwaite have identified Pollard as critical to the success of the franchise in the CPL set to get underway in Barbados July 30th.
The 26-year-old, one of the elite players in the global Twenty20 format, will lead the Tridents into battle in the six-team tournament that runs until August 24th.
“It is Twenty20 cricket and Pollard has been a very good servant for Mumbai Indians. He is a great Twenty20 cricketer,” Haynes said.
“Pollard is a winner. If you look at what Pollard has done for Mumbai Indians, I think it is something we should be proud of.”
Haynes’s sentiments were echoed by Brathwaite who pointed to Pollard’s impressive resumé in international T20 as evidence of his quality.
Brathwaite, who played a One-Day International and a Twenty20 for West Indies two years ago, said Pollard would definitely bring a winning mentality to the Tridents line-up.
“I’m looking forward to playing under his captaincy. I played with him a couple times in Trinidad for Queen’s Park and I always enjoyed his company. He was always very encouraging,” Brathwaite said.
“It’s always good to play with winners. They say winning is a habit but losing is a habit as well. We have someone leading us who has a proven track record of winning wherever he goes”.
Tridents will raise the curtain on the Limacol CPL when they face the Darren Sammy-led St Lucia Zouks in the opening game at Kensington Oval in Barbados on July 30th.
Brathwaite says Pollard has proven himself time and time again.
“If he had only won in one league, you can always say that is the team but if you win in three or four different leagues in different countries then it must be something that he himself is bringing to the table,” he explained.
“You can see it. Whenever the team needs someone to step up to the plate he is the one, more often than not, who puts his hands up and scores the runs or takes the wickets or takes a brilliant catch and that can be a game changer. We saw that in the IPL final where he got 60-odd.”
The Barbados Tridents, led by Kieron Pollard consists of Shoaib Malik, Shakib Al Hasan, Dwayne Smith, Umar Akmal, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, Rayad Emrit, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Jonathan Carter, Kyle Mayers, Devendra Bishoo, Kirk Edwards and Raymon Reifer.