Pooran backs ‘wonderful’ Pollard to rescue Windies’ World Cup defence

West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran described Kieron Pollard as a “wonderful captain” as the defending champions face a T20 World Cup survival battle against equally hapless Bangladesh.

The West Indies have lost both of their Super 12 matches so far and another defeat against Bangladesh on Friday will end their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

They were bowled out for just 55 against England to lose by six wickets and then dismissed for 143 against South Africa who romped to an eight-wicket victory.

It’s all a far cry from the joy of their sensational last-over win against England in the 2016 final in Kolkata.

“We have a wonderful captain. He knows what he’s doing,” said Pooran, one of his team’s under-performing batsman who so far has scores of one and 12.

“Whatever he says goes, and we back him to make some really good decisions for us to be successful.”

Bangladesh have been just as unconvincing, losing a qualifier against Scotland before squeezing into the Super 12s where they have lost by five wickets to Sri Lanka and eight wickets to England.

Sharjah, with its short boundaries, is a tempting paradise for the sport’s big hitters.

Afghanistan piled up 190 against Scotland. Even Bangladesh made 171 before Sri Lanka comfortably chased down the target at the Gulf venue.

However, it’s also a spinners’ dream pitch.

Against Scotland, Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman took 5-20 and Rashid Khan 4-9.

“Sharjah can be a tricky wicket,” admitted Pooran.

“But we back all the batsmen 100 percent. Doesn’t matter if it’s right or left-handed batsmen. We back them to do the job for us.

He added: “As a team, we already accepted that we didn’t come to the party. And we’re looking forward to moving forward and hopefully we can do much better.”