Kieron Pollard stood by the boundary in Morrisville on Saturday night, smiled, and offered an apology that did not sound remotely sorry. Moments earlier the MI New York captain had drilled a slower ball into the seats, moving to 81 not out and beyond Chris Gayle’s long-standing record for most runs in T20 cricket. The innings rolled on to 100* – only the second century of a 736-match career – yet ended in defeat to Washington Freedom. Typical finisher: job done personally, result out of his hands.
“Surpassing Chris Gayle, someone we looked up to in the West Indies over a period of time, is special,” Pollard said at the presentation. “He has done great things in all formats of cricket, so again, sorry Universe Boss, but we are both at the top there.”
The numbers are absurd. Pollard now has 14,582 runs at a strike-rate a whisker above 151. Just 22 of 653 innings have come higher than No 4; 286 have been from Nos 6 and 7, the territory he calls home. That trench work, he believes, is still misunderstood.
“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.”
Gayle had led the global charts since 2014. Alex Hales, and to a lesser extent Jos Buttler, threatened the peak in recent months, yet it felt inevitable Pollard would arrive first. A six to take the record suited the narrative, even if Freedom still pinched the points.
“Hell, no, I’d be lying if I said that [scoring this amount of runs was on his mind],” he admitted later, chatting by the team bus. “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.”
Pollard, Gayle and Dwayne Bravo were among the earliest West Indians to choose itinerant T20 life over a permanent international contract. At the time they were portrayed, politely speaking, as mercenaries. A decade on, teenagers weigh franchise options before their first Test cap. Pollard did not pretend the shift is purely romantic.
“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.”
Then came the gentle rebuke to past critics. “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 the day to see it, and I hope everyone who criticised 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.”
Across the MLC there was genuine admiration, even from bowlers who have worn the full force of Pollard’s forearms. A Washington player quipped that every time the big man lumbers to the crease “you write down 30 before he’s faced a ball”. The numbers back it up: since the start of 2025 he scores at 12.4 an over in the last five overs, a shade faster than Andre Russell and Tim David.
Beyond the milestones sits another, quieter point. Pollard is 39 next month, still diving around the outfield, still lugging a heavy bat that could double as a club doorstop. Fitness matters, but so does mindset. Finishing, he says, feels “a bit like emergency surgery – low margin for error, very public when you mess it up”. He claims the nerves have never disappeared, which is probably why they still fascinate him.
MI New York will hope there is more to come – their campaign now hinges on bonus points and other results – though Pollard shrugged at playoff permutations. “Control the controllables,” he said, eyes already drifting towards the next flight.
Gayle’s reply came via social media soon after: “Records are made to be broken, champ. One love.” No hard feelings, then. Just two old Caribbean trailblazers, different methods, same result – a mountain of runs and a format forever changed.
