Kieron Pollard to Lead West Indies in ODIs and T20Is, Jason Holder to Continue as Skipper in Test Cricket

Pollard takes over the ODI side despite not having played an ODI since October 2016.

T20 specialist and veteran all-rounder – Kieron Pollard has been named the captain of the West Indies in white-ball format replacing Jason Holder, who will continue to lead in Test matches. Pollard, who hasn’t played 50-over cricket for more than three years has accepted his new role. This was after Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt made an official announcement with Pollard by his side.

The 32-year-old has played 101 ODIs and 62 T20 Internationals, having scored 2289 and 903 runs, respectively in the two formats. Pollard takes over the ODI role from Holder who has captained the side since 2015. 86 of the 107 ODIs Holder has played in, he has also captained.

BREAKING NEWS – CWI President Ricky Skerritt announces the official appointment of Kieron Pollard as West Indies White Ball captain. #CWIPressConference pic.twitter.com/YicpwakDKE

— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) September 9, 2019

“Jason Holder was called by me yesterday morning and we spoke,” Skerritt said at the press conference.

“He’s a very important force and is still going to be our red-ball captain. Holder will now compete for a place in Pollad’s team and use this as an opportunity to become a better cricketer. Pollard is the right man at the right time to take our white-ball teams forward. What impressed me the most about Pollard was his keenness and commitment to give back to the game,” CWI president saod.

West Indies finished in ninth place in the group stage of this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, winning just two of their nine games in the competition. Only Afghanistan finished below them in the table.

Commenting on his appointment, Pollard said: “I’m truly honoured to be appointed captain of the West Indies and I would like to thank Cricket West Indies’ Board of Directors for placing their faith and confidence in me. I can’t wait to work with the coaching staff and players as we start building towards future World Cups and give the fans more reasons to get behind the team.”

Pollard’s opening assignment as captain will be against Afghanistan in November in India, where they will play three T20Is and three ODIs before a one-off Test.