IND vs WI: Pollard is a smart and confident leader, says Rohit Sharma

Proactive with all players, says Windies coach Simmons

In control: Kieron Pollard’s captaincy skills has come in for appreciation.

These are early days for Kieron Pollard as captain of the West Indies’ white-ball cricket team.

After an undistinguished start, losing the Twenty20 series 2-1 to Afghanistan in Lucknow recently, the 32-year-old Trinidadian led his team to a 3-0 win in the ODI series.

All along the all-rounder, who has lit up many an IPL match, knew that the bigger challenge was to come against India.

Pollard, presently the most popular West Indian among fans in India, especially Mumbai, has made a fine impression as captain in the two matches so far.

This was readily acknowledged by his Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma here on Tuesday.

“The West Indies plays well as a team and now is under the leadership of Kieron Pollard whom I know really well. As a leader I know what he expects from his team. Pollard is a smart player.

“When it comes to MI, he has always been part of the leadership group. He’s a very smart thinker of the game. He has great knowledge about the game and this helps him handle situations on the ground pretty well,” Rohit said.

West Indies coach Phil Simmons pointed out that Pollard is proactive with all players.

“He lets them know exactly what he wants from them. He’s been good in the sense that they know that he’ll give everything for the team. That’s where he’s started,” said Simmons.