Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran (born 2 October 1995) is a Trinidadian cricketer who currently plays for the West Indies cricket team in limited overs cricket, and he is an occasional captain of the limited overs formats.

He also plays for Trinidad and Tobago in West Indian domestic matches and for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL.

A left-handed wicket-keeper/batsman, he represented Trinidad and Tobago at various underage and schoolboys tournaments, and made his national under-19 debut at the 2012 regional tournament, aged only 16.

Pooran debuted for the West Indies under-19s in October 2013, in a bilateral series against the Bangladesh under-19s, and went on to play at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup.

The team's vice-captain and primary wicket-keeper, he scored 303 runs from six matches, ranking fourth for total runs and leading the West Indies' averages.

This included half-centuries against Canada and India, and an innings of 143 runs against Australia (from a team total of 208 all out), which was the highest score of the tournament and was subsequently described as "one of the most memorable innings under pressure in the tournament's history".

Pooran's innings was the highest ever under-19 ODI score against Australia, and his 136-run ninth-wicket partnership with Barbadian Jerome Jones was a record for all under-19 matches.

Before playing at international under-19 level, Pooran had played four matches for Trinidad and Tobago in the domestic one-day Regional Super50 competition, in February and March 2013.

Prior to the inaugural 2013 CPL season, he was selected in the Red Steel squad, Trinidad's CPL franchise, at age 17 was the youngest player in the competition.

On debut against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, he scored 54 from 24 balls, an innings which included six sixes and was noted for its "clean, calm stroke play" and "uninhibited aggression".

Pooran's batting was less successful for the remainder of the tournament, and also at the 2013 Champions League, where he represented the Trinidad and Tobago national side rather than the Red Steel franchise.

He again played for the Red Steel during the 2014 CPL season, but is yet to score any further half-centuries.

Pooran made his first-class debut for Trinidad and Tobago against the Leeward Islands in November 2014, during the 2014–15 season of the Regional Four Day Competition.

In his second match, against Jamaica, he top-scored with 55 runs in T&T's second innings, before being one of Nikita Miller's seven victims.

At club level, Pooran plays for Clarke Road in the Trinidadian leagues.

He also played part of the 2014 season in Ontario, representing the Redemption Sports Club in the Etobicoke & District Cricket League.

In January 2015, Pooran was involved in a road accident in St. Mary's, Trinidad, sustaining ankle and knee injuries.

He was ruled out for both the remainder of Trinidad and Tobago's domestic season and the 2015 Caribbean Premier League.

He made his international debut for the West Indies in September 2016.

In May 2022, Pooran was named as the captain of the West Indies team for limited overs cricket.

In November 2022, he stepped down as the limited overs captain of the West Indies team.

From McBean, Couva, Pooran attended Naparima College in San Fernando, and played for the school's cricket team.

In February 2017, he was bought by the Mumbai Indians team for the 2017 Indian Premier League for INR 30 lakhs but didn't play any match in the whole season.

Pooran Played for Islamabad United in 2017 Pakistan Super League as he was drafted in as a replacement of England's Ben Duckett in United's squad.

He joined the team ahead of play-offs.

He made his debut against Karachi Kings.

In June 2018, he was named in the Cricket West Indies B Team for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.

Pooran went unsold in the 2018 IPL auction after setting his base price at INR 50 lakhs.

In October 2018, he was named in the Sylhet Sixers team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.

He was the leading run-scorer for the team in the tournament, with 379 runs in eleven matches.

In December 2018, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab in the player auction for the 2019 Indian Premier League for 4.2 crore ($).

In July 2020, he was named in the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

On 30 August 2020, in the CPL fixture against the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, Pooran scored his first century in a T20 match.

Pooran was later appointed captain of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force for the 2022–23 Super50 Cup.

He steered the T&T Red Force to an eventual runners up spot against the Jamaica Scorpions in the final.

Pooran was later named to the 2022 CG United Super50 Cup "Team of the Tournament."

Pooran had an excellent IPL 2020 season as he scored a total of 353 runs in the 14 matches he played in the season.

He was also the fourth highest six hitter in the 2020 IPL season as he hit 25 sixes altogether in the season.

He however scored only 85 runs in IPL 2021.

In the 2022 IPL Auction, Pooran was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹10.75 crores.