Pollard’s unsatisfactory results, both as a player and as captain, fully justify his immediate replacement.
(1) Pollard has scored 1,468 runs at an average of 24.46 per innings in his 93 T20 International West Indies appearances.
(2) His West Indies ODI stats are 2,633 runs scored at a 26.99 average from 119 matches.
(3) Pollard’s record to date as West Indies T20 captain is 10 wins, 15 losses and five no results in 30 matches.
(4) His ODI captaincy stats are 10 wins and six losses.
‘Seven of Pollard’s 10 T20 wins as captain have, however, come against low-ranked teams such as Afghanistan, Ireland, and Sri Lanka. Much the same can also be said for his ODI captaincy wins—only two of which have been against top-ranked teams.
WHY SIMMONS MUST GO ALSO
The win-loss results of the Phil Simmons-led coaching staff also suggest they should be immediately replaced.
(1) Of the 36 T20 International matches played since Simmons’ October 2019 reinstatement as head coach, West Indies won 14 and lost 17 while five ended as no results!
(2) Simmon’s ODI record as head coach during the same period is four wins and two losses from six matches played. Not unlike Pollard, the majority of Simmons’ wins in both T20’s and ODI have come against low-ranked teams, while the losses were against teams within the top five of the ICC’s rankings…’
MY CHOICES
I hereby recommended choices of Nicholas Pooran as Pollard’s replacement as white-ball captain, and of Shimron Hetmyer as the team’s vice-captain.
Pooran’s worthiness for promotion from vice-captain to captain has by now been well established. Whereas the inconsistencies of Hetmyer’s recorded scores to date might call to question his suitability for the vice-captaincy, the unmentioned flip side of that coin is that the added responsibility of such a position could very well also prove to be the catalyst for his demonstration of the associated and required maturity and stability.
The absence of which has to date thwarted the realisation of his obvious to all potential.
