5 players who will remain indebted to the CLT20
Now that CLT20 has been scrapped, many of the novice players who are just getting ready to step into top level cricket would be certainly disheartened with that decision.Though CLT20 was primarily looked out at as a source of income by most of the cricket associations around the world, it was indeed a platform for all those talented young cricketers to showcase their talents at the highest level. Also, since BCCI was one of the founding member of CLT20; a good performance in CLT20 meant a sure shot IPL contract for most of the overseas players.These are some of the cricketers who were fortuitous as they took a giant leap in their careers after some incredible performances in the CLT20.
#1 Kieron Pollard
It won’t be an exaggeration to call Kieron Pollard as the best T20 player. He bowls, he bats and he is a live wire on the field. That’s a complete package fitting perfectly in the requirements of modern day T20 cricket. Kieron had played few ODIs and T20s for West Indies but had failed to put an impression.
He came into limelight after his heroics in inaugural season of the CLT20 back in 2009. He was a part of Trinidad & Tobago, the Carribean T20 champions. In the 2nd game against Deccan Chargers Pollard played a cameo by hitting 31 from 14 balls.
T&T went on to win that game by just 3 runs. However, his career changing knock came in the 1st match during league stage against New South Wales who were one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Every team was to play only 2 matches for qualification in the knockout stage. Hence every win was important.
NSW batted first and set a target of 171 for the islanders. It was indeed an arduous task as NSW had experienced bowling attack including Australia’s ace bowler-Brett Lee. Pollard walked in when T&T were struggling at 77/4 in 12th over.
Even a thought of T&T winning that game from such situation was quixotic. But Pollard, who was unknown to many had other plans. He took the attack to the NSW bowlers. Within no time, the equation started looking better for T&T. Pollard remained unbeaten on 54 from just 18 balls as T&T sealed the game with 9 balls to spare!
He hit 14 sixes in tournament and topped the tables for most number of sixes. He was having the best strike rate in the tournament and was the 5th highest run-getter. T&T lost in the final but Pollard had won many hearts with his spectacular performances.
He was signed by the Mumbai Indians for the next season of the IPL and since then he has played a major role for them during their triumph of 2 IPL and 2 CLT20 titles. Pollard’s international career also blossomed since then. Today he plays for as many as 7 clubs all across the globe.