UAE's Junaid Siddique not 'intimidated' by Kieron Pollard in ILT20

National team fast bowler did not back down from confrontation with one of cricket’s biggest hitters in Sharjah

MI Emirates' Kieron Pollard (L) speaks with Sharjah Warriors' Junaid Siddique at the end of the International League T20 (ILT20) tournament cricket match between Sharjah Warriors and MI Emirates at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Sharjah on January 17, 2023. (Photo by KARIM SAHIB / AFP)

Sharjah Warriors' Junaid Siddique bowls during the ILT20 match against MI Emirates at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. AFP

Tom Kohler-Cadmore of Sharjah Warriors raises his bat after scoring a fifty during the match against MI Emirates in Sharjah. ILT20 / CREIMAS.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore of Sharjah Warriors gets bowled in Sharjah on Tuesday. ILT20 / CREIMAS

Imran Tahir of MI Emirates holds 'Best Bowler' at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. ILT20 / CREIMAS

Trent Boult of MI Emirates celebrates a wicket against Sharjah Warriors. ILT20 / CREIMAS

Sharjah Warriors' players celebrate the dismissal of MI Emirates' Andre Fletcher. AFP

MI Emirates' Imran Tahir celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket. AFP

Dwayne Bravo of MI Emirates celebrates a wicket in Sharjah. ILT20 / CREIMAS

If the UAE cricketers who are playing in the DP World International League T20 are supposed to be overawed by sharing a field with some of the stars of the global game, then no one told Junaid Siddique.

For the second time in the space of four days, Sharjah Warriors were soundly beaten by MI Emirates on Tuesday, but fast bowler Siddique refused to go down without a fight. Almost literally.

At one point in the final throes of the encounter at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, it seemed highly possible he was about to come to blows with a player who is arguably the biggest star – both literally and figuratively - in the event.

Siddique was handed the ball with MI Emirates needing just 17 to win, and plenty of time to do it in. At the other end was the imposing figure of Kieron Pollard.

When the Trinidadian played and missed at the second ball, Siddique had something to say. Pollard, who had earlier walloped an extraordinary 101m six onto the pavilion roof, laced the next two balls for four and six.

Then, on the fifth ball of the over, he played over the top of a back of a length delivery and had his bails removed – much to the delight of Siddique.

The UAE fast bowler followed through to the line on which Pollard would have to walk back to the dressing room, stood there and stared, with his arms folded.

Aficionados of cricket’s short format will know that Pollard can be short-tempered if he is really pushed.

Back in 2014, he had an ugly altercation with Mitchell Starc at a game in the Indian Premier League, which saw the towering Trinidadian make to throw his bat in the direction of the Australian quick. Coincidentally, Starc has been rarely spotted in the IPL in the time since.

With that in mind, Pollard’s first few steps towards Siddique were tense. He approached his orbit, poked him in the stomach with his bat – then proceeded to wrap and arm around his shoulder, and the duo walked cheerfully back towards the pavilion together.

“No, why would I?” Siddique said when asked if was fearing he had overstepped the mark with his counterpart.

“If I was the sort of person to be intimidated, I would not have gone up to him in the first place.

“I didn't sledge him. In fact he kept staring at me from the non-striker's end, too, while I was bowling. That's why, when I took his wicket, I just went, stood up and just looked at him.”

When Siddique had first begun his contretemps with Pollard earlier in the over, it appeared as though both Nicholas Pooran, the non-striker, and Moeen Ali, his captain, were questioning the wisdom of it all.

In fact, both were offering tactical advice, according to Siddique.

“Pooran was telling me not to bowl full up to him, to his strength areas,” said Siddique, who had been a teammate of Pooran’s in the Abu Dhabi T10 in the past.

“But I told him that's my plan. We could not be defensive. We were bowling to a lesser total and I had to attack.

“[And Moeen] was saying, ‘Stick to what you have to do, like focus on your line and length and not put too much variations in spell. It was not related to that incident.”

The incident ended so jovially, it appeared as though Siddique and Pollard might be making dinner plans as they strolled back to the pavilion together. Not so, according to Siddique.

“Pollard also told me the same thing as Pooran,” he said.

“He was wondering why I was bowling fuller to him and in his range. And I told him the same thing. He hit me for a six and I took his wicket.”

Although his side lost, Siddique’s duel with Pollard proved what his UAE colleagues have long known: that he will not shirk a battle, no matter who the opponent is.

“I have always played the way I do,” Siddique said.

“Pollard is such a senior guy. He has played more matches than I have watched in my life.

“But when you are on the field, you have to back your skills and especially against a player of his stature. If one gets daunted by reputation, it's just not cricket.”