Star batter Pooran continues to seek growth, transformation
For Nicholas Pooran, stepping away from international cricket at 29 was not about turning his back on West Indies cricket but about continuing a personal journey towards becoming “the best version of myself”.“At the end of the day, I’m still doing what I love the most, which is playing cricket,” Pooran said. “I’m still getting the opportunity to play cricket all over the world and I’m still getting that chance to be the best version of myself. I still feel I haven’t reached that stage where I’m the best version of myself yet,” he added.
Pooran acknowledged his career never followed a straight line. From a debut based on “potential”, to being dropped, banned, injured and doubted, he said his early years forced him to grow up fast and taught him quickly that readiness and reality are often very different things.“I felt like I was ready but really and truly, I wasn’t,” he said of his first taste of international cricket. Dropped soon after, Ali, Rashid and Haroon felt it was a harsh introduction for a youngster to which Pooran quipped, “but that is West Indies cricket”.
Central to that transformation was a controversial decision in 2016 to play in the Bangladesh Premier League domestic T20 competition—a move that led to sanctions but ultimately became, in his words, “the best decision I have made in my entire career”.“That was the first step in me understanding as an adult, when you make decisions, there’s consequences,” he said. “I feel like something had to happen. And that just opened my eyes at the right age.”“This has nothing to do with West Indies cricket, how it is, what it is, what’s happening,” he said. “This is all about what Nicholas Pooran wants…I’m doing what’s best for myself and for my family.”And while his international chapter is closed for now, Pooran believes his cricketing journey is far from complete.