T20 World Cup 2021: West Indies backing Chris Gayle to do well, says skipper Kieron Pollard

Dubai: West Indies’ big-hitting skipper Kieron Pollard is looking forward to join forces with veteran swashbuckler Chris Gayle and lead the team to glory in the T20 World Cup. The tournament will be held in Oman and United Arab Emirates from Sunday and defending champions West Indies begin their campaign against England on 23 October at the Dubai International Stadium. Heading into the showpiece, Gayle is just 97 runs short of becoming the highest run scorer in T20 World Cup, and Pollard said that there are no words to describe what the ‘Universe Boss’ has done for their country. “Again, no words to describe what he has done for us in World Cups, in the T20 World Cups, and T20 cricket around the world as an individual,” Pollard said during a captains’ media session in Dubai on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_9800951” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of West Indies batting superstar Chris Gayle. Twitter/ @windiescricket[/caption] “For him, 97 runs away, but I don’t think he will be looking at that. I think the main goal for us and him, is trying to win a World Cup and defend the title. He is looking forward to that. Hopefully, he can come and deliver for us. We back him to do well,” Pollard added. The Indian Premier League (IPL) was “a good experience” despite his franchise Mumbai Indians’ failure to make the playoffs, according to Pollard. “I thought it was good for us and again not only as but all the players who are involved in this World Cup… get an opportunity to get a feel for what the UAE has to offer. “I am sure some interesting sort of stats, comparisons, different sort of trends might have come out of the recently-concluded IPL,” Pollard said during the interaction organised by the ICC. The IPL ended in Dubai on Friday with Chennai Super Kings beating Kolkata Knight Riders in the final to win their fourth title. “… So, the other thing about that consideration, take the context of the surfaces, the atmosphere, and put it within your game plan and try to plan to code the opposition. “For us, most of our guys got an opportunity to recently play here in the IPL in the UAE and we are looking forward to hit the ground running and start on that sort of positive note and get that first two points and see what happens after that,” added Pollard. West Indies won the 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup after Carlos Braithwaite hammered four successive sixes off Ben Stokes at the iconic Eden Gardens. “Unfortunately I wasn’t there because of injury but I think the way the guys played in that game and through that tournament was fantastic, Carlos at the back end hitting those four sixes in that last over, a lot of memories overcome because of that. “We are excited and looking forward for another opportunity to try to defend this trophy,” the 34-year-old said, adding they have lots of powerful players in their line-up. “We are looking forward to trying to play complete games of cricket and let results take care of itself,” Pollard signed off.