The 34-year-old announced a shock retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, just six months ahead of the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder took to social media one day before his Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians’ clash against Chennai Super Kings to announce his decision.
“It was a dream of mine to represent the West Indies team from the time I was a boy of 10 years and I’m proud to have done that for over 15 years in both the T20I and ODI forms of the game,”
Pollard wrote in an Instagram post.
Pollard has played 224 matches for the West Indies in white-ball cricket and has captained the side since 2019. He played 123 ODIs, scoring 2706 runs at an average of 26.01, scored three centuries with the bat and picked 55 wickets with the ball.
Pollard is the only player to have played 100 T20 internationals for the Windies. He scored 1569 runs in 101 matches at a strike rate of 135.14 with a high score of 75*. Interestingly, he is also the player with the second-most men’s international games (224) without playing a Test after David Miller.
In 2019, Pollard was asked to captain the limited overs sides. He led the West Indies in 61 matches across two formats, winning 25 matches and losing 31. The highlight of his captaincy stint was the 3-2 series victory over England at home earlier this year.
Pollard was part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2012. Last year, he became one of the rare players to have hit six sixes in an over when he smashed Akila Dananjaya. He finishes his international career with second-most sixes (234) for the Windies behind only Chris Gayle.
The timing of Pollard’s retirement puts the Windies in a tough spot, with the T20 World Cup in Australia approaching fast. They will now have to announce the new captain and will only have six months to prepare for the event.
