The focus on six-hitting has been the foundation of the West Indies’ batting approach in the T20s. Three of the top five six-hitters in T20 cricket are all from the West Indies – Chris Gayle (1042), Kieron Pollard (758), and Andre Russell (510).
And Pollard, the West Indies captain for the 2021 T20 World Cup, acknowledged his side’s power-packed batting. “We have seen it all over the world. That is the way we go about our cricket,” Pollard said on Saturday. "A lot of people, analysts at different times, harp on dot balls, singles, ones and twos. Everything is important, but we still have to play to our strengths. I'm not going to say what that is because then the heading will be 'West Indies strength is just hitting sixes' (smiles) .
“We have our weaknesses. And we continue to work on them. We have a lot of powerful guys in our lineup, However, we also have batters who can rotate strike, run between the wickets. We look forward to playing complete games of cricket and let the results take care of themselves.”
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West Indies will look for inspiration from 42-year-old Gayle, who has been part of every T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition in South Africa in 2007. Last month, Gayle had left the IPL bubble to “mentally recharge and refresh” before joining WI for the World Cup. Asked about Gayle’s longevity, Pollard said: “There are no words to describe what he has done for us in T20 World Cups and T20 cricket around the world. The guy with the most amount of runs (sic), the most amount of sixes, the fear he instills in bowlers when he is standing at the opposite end.
“The conversation for us will be trying to win the World Cup and defend the title. Gayle took a break recently because he thought he needed it. After all, this is another big tournament for him. Moving from bubble to bubble is very difficult and if a guy who enjoys himself in any given situation can’t take it then it will be difficult for some of us. We are backing him to do well.”
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