West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard said it's the end of a generation after his team suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in their last Super 12 match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (November 6).
Asked to bat first, the defending champions posted 157/7 in their allotted 20 overs, which Australia chased down with 22 balls to spare.
It was an emotional end to West Indies’ title defence as they bid farewell to Dwayne Bravo and potentially Chris Gayle.
"I think overall has been a disappointing campaign. The batting hasn't lived up to expectations, bowling has been decent. We could have done better with the fielding as well. Overall we weren't good enough," Pollard said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"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 added.
West Indies finished their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign with only one win from five games in the Super 12 phase and Pollard feels there is a lot to learn from this debacle.
"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 further said.
For Australia, Josh Hazlewood starred with the ball, claiming four wickets by conceding 39 runs in his four overs.
In reply, the Aussies rode on opener David Warner’s unbeaten 89 off 56 balls (9 fours and 4 sixes) and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh’s 32-ball 53 (5 fours and 2 sixes) to get over the line.
(With ANI inputs)
