West Indies captain Kieron Pollard heaped praise on player of the series Suryakumar Yadav, saying all batters of the modern game should look to emulate his standards.
Suryakumar scored a 31-ball 65 in the third T20I on Sunday to help India win by 17 runs . He has been the highest run-getter for India in the series, with 107 runs at an average of 53.50.
“Surya is a world-class player. I had the opportunity to play at Mumbai Indians with him since he first came in in 2011. Great to see he has grown a lot since then. He is doing great things for himself and India as a 360-degree player. All batters can take a page out of his book,” Pollard said during a virtual press meet on Sunday.
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Pollard also went on to back his deputy Nicholas Pooran for having got to his third successive fifty during the final T20I at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Trinidadian ’keeper-batter is now only the second player after New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum to achieve the feat against India in T20Is. Pollard said: “Nicholas was outstanding... three fifties in three games. That’s the consistency you ask for. At the end of the day, he is a young player who is talented in his own right. He is getting there. We don’t want to put any undue pressure and responsibilities on him. But he has what it takes to be a force to reckon with in international cricket, not only as a batter but also as a leader.”
Fine lines
India completed a 3-0 series sweep over the Windies but Pollard, 34, said the games were a lot closer than what the scoreline suggests. “Yeah, definitely it was close. But it just goes on to show the fines lines there are in international cricket. I thought it was a good series. The guys gave a good account of themselves. We accept the loss. We know this is result-oriented business. We are not happy with losing, let me put that on record. But I am happy with the performances. We are a work in progress and will get some time to think about things,” the all-rounder added.
Pollard felt it was important to test the bench strength of a side at times irrespective of match results.
“In a series, guys have to get opportunities. [Roston] Chase was a forced change in the first game as Jason Holder was injured but bowled well. We know what he could do so he was selected. Even Sheldon Cottrell bowled very decently in the first two games. All in all, all the guys put up their hands. Like Fabian Allen came back today. You have to give the guys exposure as well. You may never gonna get it right but you have to try different things to see what the guys have to offer.”
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