West Indies once again showed the power of spirit in cricket when they lifted the World T20 earlier this year in India.
It was a side that was not dependent on a single individual and their victory assumed even more importance after the skipper Darren Sammy revealed the problems the players have had with their cricketing board.
And star player Kieron Pollard also joined hands with his national team-mates as in a recent interview, he slammed the officials of the West Indies cricket board.
Pollard is one of the star players who was missing from the victorious side in India due to an injury and the 28-year old said that his teammates are completely fed-up with the WICB officials. He also added that the officials need to lower their egos and asked them to be considerate to the players who have brought glory to the country.
Talking to Cricbuzz, an Indian sports website, Pollard praised his team-mates for the World Cup victory and applauded their courage even in desperate times back in the country.
“I was very proud of how the boys played during the World Cup. I knew they were on a mission”, said Pollard. “Despite all the well-advertised problems, the senior guys rose to the occasion.”
He spoke about the series in which West Indies pulled out in the middle of India and added that the whole cricketing board in the Caribbean was responsible for the incident and that he and Bravo were unfortunate to take the blame.
That so-called task force the WICB set up said all three parties in players, WICB and WIPA shared equal blame for the India pull out – yet only I and Bravo suffered,” Pollard added.
He went on to explain how the board made Bravo and himself scape-goats for the incidents and said that none of the officials back in his country were ready to share the responsibility for the incident.
“Nobody for WICB or WIPA lost their jobs. There is no shared responsibility or ‘blame’. We as players stand by our actions and our reasons, but we are still open to communication and compromise,” he added.
The World Cup victory has once again seen the West Indian team stand up and demand respect and Pollard felt that the commitment shown by every player in the national squad in times like these shows the love for the game in the country.
He went on to explain that all the wrongful publicity about the West Indian cricketers being more interested in money than in the sport were all washed away and that the victory in India was a slap on their faces.
“We have been called all sorts of names, money-grabbing cricketers, and mercenaries. But our ambition to play for West Indies and help the team rise and brings smiles on the fans’ faces, as the guys showed in India, has always been there,” Pollard said.
However, he added that respect is a mutual aspect and said that if the players are not respected by the board, the board should not expect the players to respect them.
He urged the officials to lower their egos and to help the players in their adventures in the future.
Pollard added, “Why can’t some of the board members lower their egos if they can learn to compromise with us players we will too. It’s that simple”.
The 28-year old hard hitter also spoke about his chances of playing Test Cricket.
He started by explaining that Test cricket is still the most challenging format in the sport and that it will always be an honor to play test matches for his country.
However, he revealed that he was never branded a test cricketer and that it was hard for him to settle into the longest format of the game with people expecting something different from him.
But the biggest problem for Pollard would be the injuries to his legs.
He has already damaged the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) of both his legs and he may never be back in action in whites.
“They (selectors) never selected me for Tests and I was labelled a one-day specialist without ever getting a chance to prove myself in the longer format.
“But injuring both ACLs now that would further hinder my ability to play the longer format even more so I’m pretty sure that horse has bolted now,” he added.
The 28-year old is back in action big time as he will be an integral part of the adventure at Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League this year.