Pollard attributes his power hitting to the West Indian style of cricket

Kieron Pollard attributes his sensational power hitting to the west indian style of cricket - Fun and aggressive

Kieron Pollard attributes his sensational power hitting to the west indian style of cricket - Fun and aggressive

Trinidad's Kieron Pollard sports a 20-20 haircut during a training session at Hyderabad. PIC/SURESH KK

The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 has thrown up a few stars in the making. Kieron Pollard, the Trinidad and Tobago all-rounder, tops the list. The 22-year-old has faced just 59 balls in the tournament, but the impact he has had while scoring 120 runs, has been enormous in helping the Caribbean island team sail into the semi-finals.

The highlight of the event has been Pollard's unbeaten 18-ball 54 against New South Wales on Friday, which helped T & T win by nine balls to spare despite requiring 51 off the last four overs.

As he sat down in the hotel foyer for a tu00eate-u00e0-tu00eate with MiD DAY yesterday afternoon, Brett Lee, the New South Wales spearhead who saw Pollard smash his fellow bowlers during his blitzkrieg knock on Friday, joined in and held his cellphone in front of the Trinidadian's mouth as if he was also keen on interviewing the new-found KP of world cricket.

With Lee listening to the conversation attentively, one couldn't resist to ask Pollard, with T & T needing 16 runs off 12 balls and Lee set to bowl the last over, if he was keen on finishing off the match in the penultimate over and not face his "good friend Lee" in the last.

Pollard laughed, so did Lee. But just as he has appeared in his short international stint, especially in the CLT20, Pollard replied in his typical Caribbean accent: "Oh maan, yes! Brett is my good friend. I wanted to end the game quickly and have a ball with him. He is a great guy to hang around with."

Laughter resurfaced. Lee soon left as he had to leave for New Delhi for their semi-final. But Pollard went on to tackle every question thrown at him.

Excerpts:

That 18-ball 54 against New South Wales was just amazing...
It was a nice feeling to do that for the team. We have been very supportive of each other from the very beginning of the tournament and I am happy that I did not disappoint my team in that situation.

But when you stepped on to the field at 120 for six, did you believe such an innings was possible?
Such an innings comes in every cricketer's dream. I am satisfied that I was able to play one such innings. (Denesh) Ramdin got run out soon after I entered the field, and I was the last recognised batsman, so it was my responsibility to knock off the remaining runs. (Moises) Henriques could not settle into a proper line too on that day.

Did you expect Trinidad and Tobago to advance so far in this tournament?
I know that many people have underestimated us before the tournament. I think that worked perfectly for us as we were able to execute our plans away from the glare. We came here with a purpose in mind to enjoy our cricket. We have done that. I think the crowd too likes us, and now it's a matter of two big matches. We hope to end up as the winners.

How did this hairstyle (see pic) come about?
That was just fun. I thought of myself and the guys to become aggressive. This is just the way the Caribbean cricket is played. We enjoy ourselves. And this was just part of it. We backed ourselves coming into the tournament and now Trinidad and Tobago are just a couple of games away from winning this tournament.

Having said that, we are really enjoying the publicity and hope the opportunity will come again even after the next game.

Is it the first time you have done something like this?
Yeah, first time in my entire life! But you never know, when I will do that again.

So should we expect 50-50 to be carved in your hairline when West Indies tour Australia next month?
You never know. It all depends on what I feel like when I get up on that particular day and when I go to the barber's shop.