from Dainik Bhaskar January 2001
At last Shaun Pollock has
proved himself as a captain. The exit of Hansie Cronje after the match fixing
controversy was almost a catastrophe for South Africa. At one point of time, it
seemed that the foundations of the team were completely rocked. It was during
these trying circumstances that the United Cricket Board of South Africa
appointed Shaun Pollock as the captain with a hope that things would work all
right. And Pollock has proved the faith of the selectors.
Captaincy at such a
difficult time was a great challenge. Pollock had to bring back the confidence
to the side, which was completely shaken due to Cronje's untimely exit. The
players' self-belief had touched rock bottom. Pollock first made them believe
that they could win even without Cronje. He did not let the pressure of
captaincy affect his personal performance. Pollock was seen confidently
commanding his team during the historic indoor one-day series in Australia and
the tour to Sri Lanka. To tie the world champs Australia 1-1 and that too at
their home was an initial sign of Pollock's ability.
Pollock led his side to
convincing wins over New Zealand in the Test and the one-day series and also
against Sri Lanka recently. The one-day series was almost one sided with South
Africa winning 6-1. Their tremendous performance continued in the tests too. Sri
Lanka managed to save the first test (thanks to the rain) but didn't even seem
like putting forth any competition during the next two matches. The third test
can very easily be dubbed as 'Pollock's Test' as he rescued his team from
trouble with some very aggressive stroke play in the first innings. His century
was a befitting reply to those critics who rated him purely as a fast bowler
rather than an all-rounder. Pollock scored 111 runs in just 106 balls with 16
fours and 3 sixes punctuating his magnificent innings. No Sri Lankan bowler was
saved from his fury. Later he also bowled so well that none of the great batsmen
like Jayasuriya, Attapattu, Jayawardene or Arvind de Silva could post a decent
score. Pollock's brilliant performance resulted in South Africa winning the
match within three days and earned him the 'Man of the Match' and 'Man of the
Series' awards.
Born on July 16, 1973 at
Port Elizabeth, Pollock has inherited the game of cricket. His father Peter and
uncle Graeme have played at the highest level of cricket. Graeme, in fact is
regarded as one of South Africa's best batsmen by everyone. Shaun Pollock is no
exception to this family of cricketing greats. He started impressing everyone
from his school days itself. He did his schooling from Northwood High and
Bachelor's degree in Commerce from Natal University. He made his first class
debut by playing for Natal against Western Province. His international career
began in 1995-96 season. He played his first test against England at Centurion
and one dayer at Cape Town. And since then, there has been no looking back. His
approach towards cricket and all - round ability soon made him a regular in the
South African side. The pair of Donald and Pollock has become a worry for all
the batsmen in the world.
The best thing about
Pollock as a player is that he is extremely accurate with his line and length,
always aiming for the middle and off stump, which invariably causes the batsman
to commit mistakes. He bowls at a lively pace with a rhythmic bowling action. He
recently achieved the feat of claiming 200 test wickets during the series
against Sri Lanka.
Pollock is a very
talented batsman too. He has scored 1713 runs at an average of 28.55 in 51
tests. This includes 8 fifties and one hundred. He has also amassed 1372 one -
day runs at an average of 24.50 tough he hardly gets a chance to bat for long
since he bats lower down the order in the very strong South African batting
lineup. He has also taken 183 wickets at an average of 23.06 and a meager Econ
of 3.86.
Vice captain during Cronje's tenure, Shaun Pollock has started his innings as a captain on a successful note. Truly, this 27 year old has kept up the winning graph of South Africa and proved himself a deserving heir to Cronje.