MULTAN, Pakistan, CMC – West Indies white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran has expressed disappointment with his failure to show up with the bat recently, counting himself among batsmen who need to step up and give more support to opener Shai Hope.
Pooran, describing Hope as “the leader of our batting” for the last couple of years, said the others needed to ease the pressure off the right-hander.
Hope’s 12th One-Day International century in the series opener against Pakistan made him fourth on the all-time West Indies list of century-makers, behind Chris Gayle (25), Brian Lara (19) and Desmond Haynes (17).
“He’s been doing fantastic but we definitely need to buck up on ourselves, myself especially,” said Pooran about Hope, after West Indies were whitewashed by Pakistan in their three-match tour on Sunday.
In the last two series – the previous being against the Netherlands which was his first as captain and which West Indies won 3-0 – Pooran managed a total of just 81 runs.
The wicketkeeper-batsman acknowledged his own failings.
“In the last 10-12 innings, I haven’t scored [much] in ODI cricket and I’m very disappointed in myself as well. I’m looking forward to start back scoring runs in ODI cricket and hopefully, that changes as well and I can start back doing what I’m accustomed doing in the middle overs.
“Hopefully, the other guys can continue stringing partnerships and that could be the start of something special for us as a team,” he said.
Although he has not dazzled as he usually does with the bat, the newly-appointed captain showed surprising bowling talent in the final game of the three-match series against Pakistan. He spearheaded the visitors’ bowling attack and ended Sunday’s game with figures of four for 48, the fourth-best by a West Indies captain in ODIs.
Three of his wickets those of left-hand batsmen.
“Today was amazing for me and the guys in the dressing room know I’m going to talk a lot about it, especially pressure Akeal [Hosein] and Hayden [Walsh Jr.] about getting wickets for us, because today these fingers worked,” said Pooran who had previously bowled only three balls in international cricket.
“I’m not gonna get overconfident. Hopefully, there are two left-handers in the next series so I can bowl as well.”
His next opportunity could be next month when West Indies host Bangladesh in two three-match series – T20 Internationals and ODIs, July 3-7 and July 10-16, respectively.
