Nicholas Pooran

Profile

A talented left-handed batsman, who is a wicket-keeper too, Nicholas was picked in the Trinidad squad for the Champions League T20 tournament in 2013 but could not make much of an impact. It was in 2014 that he came into spotlight with a knock of 143 runs off just 160 balls to take West Indies from 70 for 8 to 208 in the Under-19 World Cup. A fan of MS Dhoni, Pooran thrives under pressure and loves to unleash the big hits.

As inspiring as it might sound, Pooran had to go through a lot of struggle to even be playing cricket. In January 2015, he was involved in a horrific accident which almost ended his cricket career. He had ruptured his left patellar tendon and fractured his right ankle. He recovered thanks to two surgeries and able guidance by Kieron Pollard but coming back to cricket still wasn't easy. His eagerness to get back on the field was responded with caution by the TTCB board who would not select him until he recovered fully. He left Trinidad & Tobago for Queen's Park CC where he found an able leader in the then West Indies coach Phil Simmons.

In 2016, he was a part of the Pollard-led Barbados side in the domestic T20 competition and struck a 12-ball 33 against T&T. He finished the season with 217 runs in eight innings, including a match winning 81 off 39 against St. Lucia. He was picked for the West Indies' tour of UAE in 2016 to face Pakistan but had a poor run - 25 runs in three T20I matches.

Pooran though was more than happy to represent his national side than lying on the bed with an injured leg. Robin Singh was the coach at Barbados and his good rapport with him and Pollard helped him earn a contract with Mumbai for the 2017 edition of the Indian T20 League. He remains to be the one to watch out for in the near future.