"It seemed he is not interested at all" - Aakash Chopra on Kieron Pollard's performances during the India vs West Indies series
Aakash Chopra has criticized Kieron Pollard's performances both as a player and as a skipper during the limited-overs series against Team India.
Pollard missed the last two ODIs of the three-match series against India due to an injury. He returned to captain the side in the three T20Is but did not play any significant knocks, with the West Indies also getting whitewashed in the series.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reflected on the performances of some of the Caribbean players. He said the following about Pollard:
"Kieron Pollard - it seemed he is not interested at all. He is not bowling and when he comes to bat, he doesn't look the same player. He looks much better for the Mumbai Indians."
The former India opener highlighted that the West Indies skipper failed to lead from the front. Aakash Chopra explained:
"Honestly, when you see him play for the West Indies, he looks half the player, whether you talk about the T20 World Cup or here, whether you talk about him not bowling or his field placements as a captain. It just does not inspire any confidence whatsoever."
Pollard scored just 32 runs at an underwhelming strike rate of 110.34 in the three-match T20I series. He also conceded 14 runs in the solitary over he bowled in the series.
"Nicholas Pooran needed a little more support" - Aakash Chopra
On the flip side, Aakash Chopra was appreciative of Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran's performances during the series. He observed:
"Rovman Powell has the power which we saw a long time ago in Andre Russell. Nicholas Pooran - one more time, the team was stuck but the guy played. Three half-centuries in three matches. He batted very well, he needed a little more support."
However, the renowned commentator was extremely critical of the West Indian bowling. Chopra elaborated:
"The West Indies bowling is extremely ordinary. You are not looking a T20 team from any angle, they are a shadow of the champion team of the past. You used to play well collectively earlier, then individually but now even the individuals are in small numbers. There is no one who can be called a gun T20 bowler."
Happy to see Nicholas Pooran starting to become the player that his talent deserves. Roston Chase's bowling has been a big plus all series along with Hayden Walsh tonight. More exposure & a few bowling and batting upgrades and this is an interesting team.
Roston Chase was the most effective West Indies bowler. The spin-bowling all-rounder snared six wickets in the three T20Is and had an exceptional economy rate of 5.16.