T20 World Cup: Retired hurt or retired out? Kieron Pollard abruptly walks outside field against Bangladesh

Add as a preferred source on Google

Sharjah, October 29: West Indies captain Kieron Pollard surprised all with his decision to walk outside the pitch midway through his batting in the Super 12 match against Bangladesh in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 here at Sharjah.

Pollard - who was batting at 8 off 16 deliveries - left the field abruptly during his team's batting against Bangladesh. West Indies' top-order struggled against quality bowling from Bangladesh after being put in to bat first on a slow Sharjah strip on Friday (October 29).

The West Indies skipper walked into the middle at number four after Shimron Hetmyer's dismissal in the seventh over but the disciplined bowling effort from Bangladesh kept the big-hitting batsman from Trinidad from free his arms and score at ease.

After he took a single on the third delivery of the 13th over of the West Indies innings, Pollard kept walking towards the pavilion and power-hitter Andre Russell made his entry into the middle. However, Russell was dismissed for a diamond duck as the explosive batsman was run out after the shot hit from Roston Chase was deflected towards the stumps by bowler Taskin Ahmed and hit the non-striker's end.

Pollard's exit from the pitch left everyone wondering if he was retired hurt or did he retire himself out due to his slow batting. However, he had to walk into the middle to resume batting in the 20th over to face a couple of deliveries. He played the first one for a dot and smashed the second one for a maximum to end WI innings with a flourish.

His move, however, was a subject of discussion on social media and here's what they had to say:

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah won the toss and invited Pollard to bat first in a crucial match for both teams. Bangladesh made two changes with Taskin Ahmed and Soumya Sarkar replacing Nurul Hasan and Nasum Ahmed.

For West Indies, Roston Chase made his international T20 debut while Jason Holder was also included in the playing XI. Lendl Simmons and Hayden Walsh missed out. Both teams need a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive.