Pollard shrugs off favourites' tag

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:

Another West Indies cricketer has shrugged off the favourites' tag being heaped on the Caribbean side preparing for the ICC Twenty20 in Sri Lanka later this month.

Big-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard says being labelled as favourites could only put the West Indies players under a certain amount of pressure going into the tournament.

Pollard, a T20 specialist and one of the world's most valuable cricketers, said it's only performance on the field of play that counts.

"We have a very good team and a lot of people are saying we are favourites. But, you know, when you are favourites, it comes with a pressure tag as well,"said Pollard, part of a 15-man squad involved in final preparations at the High Performance Centre at UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados.

PLAY THE GAME, NOT THE NAME

"But you know, hopefully names on paper comes for nothing. It is performance in the field. So it's a matter of putting, all what you have practised into play."

Pollard's comments follow similar statements from West Indies captain Darren Sammy earlier this week playing down the favorites tag.

Windies are currently fifth in the ICC T20 rankings, below South Africa, England, Sri Lanka and India.

The likes of New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor, Australia all-rounder Shane Watson, and former India captain Sourav Ganguly, have publicly lauded Darren Sammy's men as one of the favourites to win the World Twenty20.

"Twenty20 is about who does the basics right. You have a situation to play to the best of your ability and try to execute as properly as possible and, hopefully, it comes off for you on that day," said Pollard, the joint highest paid player in the 2010 Indian Premier League, representing Mumbai Indians.

"It's another day of cricket. Another tournament and, once we relax and play our cricket, we are going to do well."

West Indies defeated New Zealand in series involving all formats of the game earlier this year, and are currently involved in a weeklong training camp ahead of the limited-overs showpiece, which gets under way in Sri Lanka in September.

Pollard said he is anxious to show his worth in bowling after recovering from a shoulder injury that affected his bowling last year.

The West Indians have been pooled with Australia and Ireland in Group B in the 12-team tournament.

Their campaign gets under way against the Aussies in Colombo on September 22.