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THE NEW T20 BOSS: KIERON POLLARD KNOCKS CHRIS GAYLE OFF HIS PERCH
There is a new T20 “Boss” after former MI Cape Town captain Kieron Pollard became the leading run-scorer in the history of the shortest format, surpassing his good friend and West Indian legend Chris Gayle.
Pollard knocked Gayle, who is nicknamed ‘The Universe Boss’, off his perch on Saturday when he struck an unbeaten 100 for MI New York against Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket (MLC), moving past Gayle's total of 14 562 runs in 20-over cricket.
The 39-year-old, the most-capped T20 player with 736 appearances, scored only his second hundred, having previously made one during CPL 2018.
"Surpassing Chris Gayle, someone we looked up to in the West Indies over a period of time, is special," Pollard said. "He has done great things in all formats of cricket, so again, sorry Universe Boss, but we are both at the top there."
Pollard’s achievement is even more remarkable considering he bats in the middle-to-lower order and often faces a finite number of balls, in comparison to Gayle, who opened the batting throughout his stellar career.
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"Batting at number 6 or 7 is very difficult. Somebody needs to do the dirty work, though, and while everyone rushes to bat at the top of the order, a cricket match involves 11 people, and everyone has a role to play," he said.
"I guess my role over time was to finish matches, and I embraced that. Once you embrace the challenge and practise for it, good things come."
The T20 trailblazer believes players like himself, Gayle, and fellow West Indian Dwayne Bravo deserve credit for prioritising franchise cricket and helping transform the landscape into the lucrative business it currently is, which allows players plenty of opportunities outside of international cricket.
Of Pollard's 14 563 T20 runs at present, 207 have come during his two stints in Betway SA20 (Seasons 2 and 4).
"What I'm proud of, individually and with all those other guys you mentioned, like Chris, is that we took a leap of faith and we got ridiculed a lot for it," Pollard said. "Now you live to see guys at a young age even retiring from international cricket to play franchise cricket because, again, cricket is not just a sport anymore; it's a business.
"One thing I've understood in life about human beings is that when you do something different, change is something we're not really accustomed to. I'm happy that I've lived to see the day, and I hope everyone who criticised us over the years can sit back and say, 'Cheers'. We don't need a sorry. Respect each and every format of the game, but understand that just like technology, everything is changing."
Pollard has no timeline for his retirement date yet and will continue as long as he can add value.
"I think it's more about personal pride, motivation, and wanting to play the sport, and wanting to help the youngsters in each and every team I play for," he said. "Once that desire is there, I'm going to continue. It's not going to be at the expense of any young person who wants to take the mantle. For me, I'm just enjoying the moment.
"Once you keep yourself in shape from a physical perspective, the muscle memory of cricket will always be there. After the IPL, I went home, took three or four days off, and [then] for two-and-a-half weeks I was pounding it early in the morning. Like I said, personal pride is more important to me than anything. I'm not going to come to a tournament underprepared and just say I'm going to play on legacy. That's not the right example to set for the youngsters coming up."
