Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran, the foremost of the second generation of West Indian T20 stars, retired from international cricket at 29, a paradox of the modern game and one of its most prominent exponents. The month after he hung up his boots in international cricket, he led MI New York to their second Major League Cricket title.

The previous year had been his best in T20, where he broke records for the most runs scored and sixes hit in a calendar year - 2331 and 170 respectively - while playing 76 matches for seven international franchises and West Indies.

One of the most prolific batters in the short-format game, Pooran's story pivoted around an unlikely comeback. About a year after finishing as the fourth-highest run-scorer at the U-19 World Cup, a serious car accident in early 2014 left him with a torn patella tendon, fractured tibia and fractured ankle. After a long recovery, he was handed a substantial contract by Barbados Tridents in the 2016 CPL on Kieron Pollard's recommendation.

Unsure if his body would hold up under the pressures of playing multiple formats, Pooran looked to maximise his earnings by focusing on franchise leagues, playing in the Hong Kong Blitz, the T10, and for West Indies B in the Global T20 Canada, apart from just about every top-line league. To think that his first BPL deal, in 2016-17, earned him a ban from the WICB, which was displeased with his decision to forego regional cricket.

His international breakthrough came in late 2018, when he hit his first half-century for West Indies off just 24 balls against India in Chennai. From there, he made it into the ODI World Cup squad as West Indies' No. 4, despite limited experience in 50-over cricket. He hit fifties against England and Afghanistan in the tournament, plus a thrilling hundred against Sri Lanka, and finished with an average of over 52.47 and a strike rate of 100.

In 2022 he was made West Indies' white-ball captain, and that year's T20 World Cup was regarded as a potential coronation event for the team's ageing golden generation. They suffered an early exit in the first round of the tournament, and Pooran quit the captaincy in November that year.

He came into his own in the IPL during a stellar 2020 season. He entered the tournament having just scored a maiden T20 hundred for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL, and went on to make 353 runs at a strike rate of 170 for Kings XI Punjab, demonstrating an ability to dominate, particularly against spin. In the IPL he topped 350 three years running, starting in 2023, as a middle-order firestarter for the young Lucknow Super Giants franchise; in 2025 his 524 runs came at a strike rate just a shade under 200.

- An explosive left-hand batter, Nicholas Pooran made his IPL debut after being picked by Punjab Kings for INR 4.2 crore in 2019.

- Pooran showed glimpses of his ability in his first season itself, scoring 168 runs from seven games at a strike rate of 157. He went even better in the next season as he made 353 runs in 14 games at 169.71.

- He was released by PBKS after a poor season in 2021, when he could only score 85 runs in 12 matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad then acquired him for INR 10.75 crore in the IPL 2022 mega auction.

- Ahead of the 2023 season, he attracted a bidding war and was eventually snapped up for a whopping INR 16 crore by Lucknow Super Giants. He made an instant impact for them, blazing 358 runs at a remarkable strike rate of 172.95, helping the team make the playoffs.

- He has had two bumper campaigns for LSG since then: In 2024, he scored 499 runs at a strike rate of 178.21. In 2025, he scored 524 runs at 196.25, which ensured he was retained by them ahead of the 2026 season.