Nicholas Pooran. (Photo Source: Twitter and Rich Storry/Getty Images)
India lost three matches in a five-match T20I series as West Indies bagged the trophy by a 3-2 margin. There were many standout performances from the West Indies team during the series as the likes of Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder stood out at various stages but Nicholas Pooran was a decisive factor as he scored 176 runs at an average of 35.20 and a strike rate of 141.94. In fact, no other batter from either team scored more runs than the wicketkeeper-batter.
In the fifth T20I, chasing 166 for a series win in Lauderhill, Pooran scored an impactful 47 off 35 balls to help his team win in a canter. However, during the knock, the southpaw was hit on the abdomen by a delivery from Arshdeep Singh. Also, Brandon King’s bludgeoning stroke off Kuldeep Yadav in the fifth over hit Pooran on his forearm. The former West Indies captain posted a picture of his wounds of war on social media.
“The after effects thank you brandon king and arsdeep,” Pooran wrote as the caption for the image on his ‘X’ handle. The 27-year-old was deservingly handed the Player of the Series award for his fabulous returns during the series.
The after effects 😂 thank you brandon king and arsdeep. pic.twitter.com/7jOHS46NSr
— NickyP (@nicholas_47) August 14, 2023
Nicholas Pooran is a big player for us: Rovman Powell
During the post-match presentations, West Indies captain Rovman Powell was effusive in praise for Pooran. The 30-year-old hailed Pooran as a big player and also revealed that the team management had asked him to come good in three out of the five games and the left-handed batter didn’t disappoint.
“Nicholas Pooran is a big player for us, we asked him to come through for us in at least three of the five games and he did. Nobody can come good in every game so we asked him to try and stand up in three games,” Rovman said.
This was a much-needed series win for the West Indies, who have struggled to find their feet, across formats in recent times.