EMERGING from the wreckage of the West Indies' poor summer, big-hitting Kieron Pollard has shown he is a superstar of the future.
The allrounder from Trinidad and Tobago showed his exciting potential when he smashed four towering sixes into the Gabba grandstands on Sunday night.
The Windies were never a chance of hauling in Australia's 7-324, but Pollard's supercharged 62 off 55 balls kept the crowd on their toes.
The 22-year-old, who grew up in a home where his single mother often struggled to put food on the table, has already collected $US750,000 ($845,000) for signing an Indian Premier League contract with Mumbai.
It may seem excessive, but not according to West Indian captain Chris Gayle, who says Pollard could be anything.
Gayle is one of cricket's most exhilarating big hitters, but he insisted the title for most powerful hitter in his own team belonged to Pollard.
"He's bigger than me, so I think he can hit it further than me, definitely," Gayle said yesterday.
"I'm still happy with Pollard and the progress he's making. It's a big improvement in the last couple of ODIs. It shows that he's very capable of getting an ODI hundred very soon.
"It's good for us and it's good for him as well."
Pollard first hit the headlines when he dominated the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament last year.
He was quickly signed by South Australia and was the leading runscorer in this season's domestic Big Bash tournament with 190 runs at a strike rate of 145.
Pollard is also a more than handy paceman and struck Cameron White a vicious blow behind the ear from a bouncer during Australia's 51-run ODI win in Brisbane.
However, when skipper Ricky Ponting was asked if the medium pacer was faster than he looked, he said: "No, he's not. He gets a bit more bounce, and runs his fingers across most balls and a lot stick in the wicket a little bit."
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