Brian Lara is his favourite cricketer. But, Nicholas Pooran doesn’t want to emulate him. Rather, the 23-year-old wants to carve his own identity and lord over the bowlers.
“I have that talent and skill. I know that,” the 23-year-old said confidently, a while after hammering 118 against Sri Lanka on Monday.
“It is unfortunate at the end of the day. I felt I had to capitalise in that over, but it didn’t happen,” he said.
“We were so close to winning the game and we just find ourselves in some situation to lose it. The focus today was on winning the game and it’s so disappointing,” the heartbroken youngster said.
It was not easy to take on the Sri Lankan bowling attack spearheaded by Lasith Malinga. But, Pooran took a bit of time to settle in and then banked on his natural game to revive West Indies’ chase.
The Jason Holder-led side was reeling at 84 for four and Pooran helped the team reach the 300-run mark — something that looked impossible until the 25th over.
Steady partnership
He joined hands with Fabian Allen and built a steady partnership.
“I knew when myself and Fabian was batting, we were in control,” Pooran said.
“Actually the bowlers didn’t know where to bowl and it got easy. Unfortunately, Fabian got run-out and I felt a bit responsible for that, but we were in control but it just slipped,” the youngster said.
With still enough cricket left this year, Pooran hopes to put behind the World Cup disappointments and focus on the future.
