T20 WC: End of a generation, says Pollard as WI bid farewell to an era

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said it's the end of a generation after the Caribbean team was defeated by Australia in their final Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Saturday.

Half-centuries for David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, and four wickets for Josh Hazlewood made it four wins in five matches for Australia in Group 1. Warner made 89* off 54 while Marsh supported him with 53 off 32 as they chased down the target of 158 with eight wickets and 22 balls to spare.

For West Indies, it was an emotional end to their title defence. The two-time champions showed glimpses of their era-defining T20 batting as they bid farewell to Dwayne Bravo and potentially Chris Gayle. However, they finished their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 campaign with only one win in the Super 12 stage.

 

In the post-match presentation, Kieron Pollard said: "I think overall has been a disappointing campaign. The batting has lived up to expectations, bowling has been decent. We could have done better with the fielding as well. Overall we weren't good enough."

"But for me, it's the end of a generation/era where you have some guys who have done some good things for T20 cricket, not only in the Caribbean but around the world. Sometimes one tournament you don't want to sum up the entire thing when it comes to that but rationally these guys have done pretty well for themselves and we as people are very, very proud," he continued.

"Obviously we need to look at the way we play T20 cricket again. Our team is set-up for powerhitters to do a lot of damage but we weren't able to do that. We have seen in these conditions that one guy in that top four has to bat through, when you get in try and stay as long as possible. It's hard for the guys to come and hit straightaway. That is something that we need to do better but the good thing is that we have to start from foundation now and that's the reality of the situation. There is nothing that we can do about it now. That journey would not have just started at this World Cup," the all-rounder explained.

"The journey would have started earlier to get points accumalated whatever needed to qualify. For us it is what it is. We have to live with that. Couple of years ago we have to qualify for the 50-over World Cup and we did. So whoever in the position in terms of personnel now, we have to rebuild and do it. Thanks to everyone who have supported us. Thanks to the Caribbean fans, yes we disappointed you as a team, sorry. But life goes on. Thank you very much," he added.