Kieron Pollard, former West Indies captain, has apologized in jest to Chris Gayle after he broke the Universe Boss’s record for most runs in T20 cricket. Pollard achieved the feat in the ongoing MLC 2026 tournament.
Pollard achieved the record in the recent MLC 2026 match between Washington Freedom and MI New York in Dallas on June 20, 2026. Freedom posted 245/5, with Mitchell Owen scoring 155 in 68 balls with 11 fours and 13 sixes to his name.
MI NY failed to get a good start to the chase, but then Kieron Pollard made 100* in 56 balls with 11 fours and 4 sixes as the team finished on 215/6 and lost by 30 runs.
Despite this, Pollard went past Chris Gayle’s 14562-run record, which he had scored in 463 games at an average of 36.22 and strike rate of 144.75, with 22 centuries and 88 fifties, and the highest score of 175*.
Pollard now has 14589 runs in 737 games with a strike rate of 151 and an average of 31.85, with 2 centuries and 87 fifties and a best score of 104.
Most of these runs have come at lower batting order numbers, a matter of great pride for Pollard.
"Surpassing Chris Gayle, someone we looked up to in the West Indies over a period of time, is special. He has done great things in all formats of cricket, so again, sorry, Universe Boss, but we are both at the top there.
Having said that, batting at No. 6 or 7 is very difficult. Somebody needs to do the dirty work, though, and while everyone rushes to bat at the top of the order, a cricket match involves 11 people, and everyone has a role to play. I guess my role over time was to finish matches, and I embraced that. Once you embrace the challenge and practice for it, good things come," Pollard said after the match, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Pollard, Gayle, and Dwayne Bravo are trailblazers in T20 cricket and were slammed at one time for picking T20 cricket over international cricket. Now they are being credited with this line of thinking that is being adopted by several other cricketers across the globe.
After all these years, Pollard still doesn't regret his choice. If anything, he is proud of it.
“Hell, no, I'd be lying if I said that [if he ever imagined achieving the ‘most runs’ feat]. But what I'm proud of, individually and with all those other guys you mentioned like Chris, is that we took a leap of faith and we got ridiculed a lot for it. Now you live to see guys at a young age, even retiring from international cricket to play franchise cricket, because again, cricket is not just a sport anymore; it's a business.
One thing I've understood in life about human beings is that when you do something different, change is something we're not really accustomed to. I'm happy that I've lived to see the day, and I hope everyone who criticized us over the years can sit back and say, 'Cheers.' We don't need a sorry. Respect each and every format of the game, but understand that just like technology, everything is changing," he added.
Pollard has hit 909 fours and 986 sixes as well in his 737 T20 games career.
