'Can't believe you retired before me': Gayle, Tendulkar react as Pollard hangs up boots

West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket after representing his country at the top for 15 years. The 34-year-old informed his fans about the decision via a post on his official social media handles. Following the announcement, Pollard’s fans and people from the cricketing fraternity rushed to congratulate him on his career.

While several fans rushed to the social media to thank Kieron Pollard and congratulate him for his career, many cricketers including his teammates showered praises on him. Pollard’s West Indies teammate Chris Gayle was amongst the first to congratulate the player on his decision. Surprised by the announcement, Gayle noted that he couldn’t believe Pollard hung his boots before him.

Sachin calls Pollard a 'fighter' 

Meanwhile, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar also took to social media to laud Pollard for his illustrious career. Having shared the dressing room together for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, Sachin shared an image of his former teammate and praised him for his attitude on the pitch. “A fighter and a challenger with a terrific attitude on the field! Congratulations Polly!!” Sachin tweeted while sharing an image of the duo from Mumbai Indians’ training ground.

Kieron Pollard retires from intl cricket

After careful deliberation, Kieron Pollard believes it is time to hang up his boots from all forms of international cricket as he announced his retirement on April 20. Despite not having played a single Test, Kieron Pollard had an exceptional white-ball career with both bat and ball. He played 123 ODIs for the West Indies, scoring 2,706 runs and picking up 55 wickets. The 34-year-old, who is known to be one of the best finishers in T20I cricket, has scored 1,568 runs in 101 matches at a decent strike rate of 135.14. He has also picked up 42 wickets alongside these batting numbers in this format.

And to add to all his accomplishments as an individual, he also was bestowed the honour of leading the Windies side in international cricket in both white-ball formats. Despite heading into the 2019 T20 World Cup as one of the favourites, the Pollard-led side did not have the best of tournaments as they were knocked out of the group stages. Having retired from international cricket, Pollard will hope that he can add to his five IPL titles with the Mumbai Indians.

Image: AP/ PTI