MANCHESTER, England, CMC – Veteran opener Chris Gayle has backed rookie Nicholas Pooran to become the next West Indies “world record beater” and has identified Shai Hope as a future captain.
The 39-year-old Gayle, who will call time on his illustrious career shortly, praised Pooran’s work ethic and said it was a sign of things to come from the free-scoring left-hander.
“Pooran, his work ethic – I must commend Pooran’s work ethic,” Gayle told a media conference here.
“It’s fantastic for a youngster [who has] actually just come into the team. And he’s going to be a world record beater.
“Nicholas Pooran is going to be a savage youngster, trust me on that one.”
He added: “And like I said, (Darren) Bravo has been around for some time. And Shai Hope as well. Hope will definitely have a big part to play in West Indies cricket. He’s a guy who actually may be a future captain as well.
“So he’s got a start, I think, going down that line as well. So it’s something everyone has to rely on each other, to be honest with you.”
Pooran has been among the leading run-scorers for West Indies with 191 runs at an average of 38. His lone half-century was a polished 63 against England in Southampton but he has been guilty of getting starts and not carrying on.
Fellow left-hander Shimron Hetmyer has also not converted his starts into big scores, scoring two half-centuries in an aggregate of 192 runs at an average of 37.
Gayle, a veteran of 296 One-Day Internationals, said he had repeatedly underscored to younger batsmen in the team the importance of capitalising on good starts.
“The likes of Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, those guys got some starts, and I keep on pressing in the areas that when they get these starts against opponents, you have to build on it because it doesn’t come easy,” Gayle pointed out.
“And you’re going to find a difficult time in your cricketing career where you’re going to be struggling for runs. So when you get those starts, you have to convert these 50s into 100s and be consistent as much as possible as well.”
West Indies have endured a dismal World Cup campaign, losing five of their seven outings to be eliminated from semi-final contention with two games remaining.
The performance has come against the backdrop of a poor ODI record in recent times that has seen the Windies without a single series victory for the last five years.
Despite this, Gayle insisted West Indies possessed the players to make the turnaround.
“Definitely the future is bright for West Indies cricket, without a doubt. The likes of Nicholas Pooran and Hetmyer – his name has been calling in all forms of the game so far,” Gayle said.
“For these guys to actually believe and build on these things [will make it good for them]. And the cricket, they can learn as a youngster. Trust me, it will be much, much better for them within their career going forward.”
