Kieron Pollard backs Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer to reap rewards of their 'talent'

After an impressive win in the first T20I of the series against South Africa, West Indies suffered an unlikely series defeat as their brittle middle-order could not rise to the occasion of dealing with a perpetually challenging Proteas bowling attack.

The series loss served as a harsh reminder to the Windies side who have been dominating the world in the shortest format of the game but the skipper Kieron Pollard is confident that the side will turn back the fortunes.

He has chosen to work with young and talented people such as Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer, who have not best of times with the bat against Proteas, to see if they can translate their potential into performances.

"When Hetmyer wasn't playing people were asking for his inclusion, now he's playing, he comes in and is trying to fulfil a role. He's a guy who is really, really talented, we have a lot of time for him. Let him play and see if we can reap the rewards of his talent. We are willing to work with him and he's willing to work. We just want him to succeed,” Pollard said before the start of the T20 series against Australia.

"Nicholas Pooran, again, a young individual finding his craft, we know he's talented, and in any sportsman's career you will go through a period like this," Pollard said. "It is an opportunity for us to be there for these youngsters and give them this sort of hug and protect them then let them come out of it."

Emphasizing the need to back younger players who can turn up their game in the near future, Pollard said that dropping them from the side would be the easiest decision for his side but it has not worked for them in the past and hence it would be a wrong move. He said that the team management knows ‘deep down’ that what these pliers bring to the table for West Indies and hence sticking with them while they are down on confidence and short of runs is the way forward.

"As a team we are willing to work with these youngsters because we know in the future what they can do. Sometimes the easiest suggestion is to put them on the sidelines but is that going to help? Has it worked before?" Pollard questioned.

"We are going to stick with these guys because we know deep down inside that these guys are talented and have what it takes to take West Indies cricket forward," argued Pollard, one of the most decorated players in the history of T20 cricket.

West Indies as a side have been known for brutal hitting of the ball and their batsmen, in general, rely on boundary hitting more than rotating strike compared to the other teams across the world.

The trend was all too similar in the lost series against South Africa and Pollard took cognisance of higher dot ball played by his batsmen. However, he said that the fact which has emerged as an issue can be a ‘two-fold’ case and it also shows that the Windies batsmen hit a lot more boundary shots than their opponents.

"Yes, we've had a high percentage of dot balls throughout the series and the one prior to that. It has been spoken about time and time again, I can assure you that we try not to leave any stone unturned. We have a wealth of experience and a wealth of coaches who take time to go into details of where we need to improve as a team." Pollard said. West Indies in their last series have been questioned for the way they treated chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi. 

However, Pollard suggested that one should shrug off the issue for the moment and asked to concentrate on the style of play WI have adapted over the years. "There's a lot of conversations taking place but we still need to put it into practice. Some things might take longer, but that's the nature of life. It's like going into school, some persons need extra lessons to get it right. It can become a concern but is it a concern when you look around at the other teams and we hit more boundaries than them at different times. That's our strength, so it's two-fold."

Windies will take on Australia in a five-match long T20 series starting July 10 in St. Lucia and a three-match ODI series starting on July 21 in Barbados.