Overview:
Following Pollard in terms of T20 appearances is Dwayne Bravo, who has played 582 T20 matches. Shoaib Malik occupies third place with 557 T20 appearances.
On Monday (June 23), Kieron Pollard created history by becoming the first player to appear in 700 T20 matches, playing for MI New York in their Major League Cricket match against the San Francisco Unicorns. The West Indies legend, who has set numerous T20 records, is now playing under the captaincy of Nicholas Pooran in the US-based T20 league. MI New York is a sister franchise of the Mumbai Indians (MI), a team Pollard represented from 2010 to 2022 before retiring from the IPL ahead of the 2023 season.
Pollard’s record-breaking achievement saw him become the first cricketer to play 700 T20 matches. Before this match, he was just one game away from reaching this milestone. As the most-capped player in T20 cricket history, Pollard now has 13,668 runs and 328 wickets in the format.
MI New York struggled with the ball, giving away 246 runs in their allotted 20 overs. San Francisco’s captain, Matthew Short, was in fine form, scoring 91 runs off 43 balls, while Jake Fraser-McGurk contributed with 64 runs from 26 balls.
Pollard, a standout player for MI New York, took 2 wickets and ended unbeaten on 34 runs from 16 balls. However, his performance was not enough to prevent MI New York from falling short by 47 runs.
Following Pollard in terms of T20 appearances is Dwayne Bravo, who has played 582 T20 matches. Shoaib Malik occupies third place with 557 T20 appearances, while Andre Russell (556) and Sunil Narine (551) take the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
Pollard also represented the West Indies in 101 T20Is before retiring from international cricket, amassing 1,569 runs and 42 wickets. The former West Indies captain retired in 2022, after having featured in 123 ODIs and 27 first-class matches from 2007 to 2015.