Site icon Cricfit

Kieron Pollard Becomes The First Cricketer To Play 600 T20 Matches

Kshitij Srivastava
Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard has become the first cricketer to play 600 T20 games. Dwayne Bravo and Shoaib Malik are behind Pollard with 543 and 472 matches respectively. In his 600th game, Pollard made unbeaten 34 runs off 11 balls with 1 four and 4 sixes. He was playing for London Spirit, against Manchester Originals, in The Hundred.

Pollard made his T20 debut back in July 2006 for Trinidad & Tobago. His knock in CLT20 2009 against New South Wales in Hyderabad was the turning point in his career. Pollard smashed unbeaten 54 runs off 18 balls, 5 fours and 5 sixes included. Shortly after, he got an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians worth $750,000.

The price tag helped Pollard take the T20 format more seriously and become the ‘ultimate professional’. As his demand grew in the T20 leagues around the world, Pollard had to take some tough decisions. In 2010, he refused the central contract from West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to be available for Global T20 Leagues as a freelancer.

As of August 2022, Pollard has represented the following teams in T20 Cricket:

Adelaide Strikers, Barbados Tridents, Cape Cobras, Dhaka Dynamites, Dhaka Gladiators, Karachi Kings, London Spirit (Men), Melbourne Renegades, Multan Sultans, Mumbai Indians, Peshawar Zalmi, Somerset, South Australia, St Lucia Stars, Stanford Superstars, Surrey, Trinbago Knight Riders, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies

Pollard announced retirement from international cricket in April 2022. He continues to freelance in private T20 and T10 leagues across the globe. In his 600-match T20 career, Pollard has accumulated almost 12,000 runs, smashed 750+ sixes & 700+ fours, taken 300+ wickets & 300+ catches. The numbers are enough to call him a T20 legend !!

I’ll continue to try and work hard and enjoy playing cricket- Kieron Pollard

Talking about the achievement, Pollard said that he never set out to play these many T20 games. He simply likes the format and wishes to continue playing for as long as possible.
Pollard said on ESPNCricinfo: “It’s an achievement in itself, 600 games in any format. I’ve never set out to play this many games or to play this format for this period of time, but it’s something that came along and I’ve enjoyed it so far. Let’s see what happens as I go forward. I’ll continue to try and work hard and enjoy playing cricket with a smile on my face. As long as the body holds up, I’m going to see how long I can go.”

Get the latest cricket news here and like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.

Exit mobile version