JOURNEY NOT YET COMPLETE

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.

@sgtdjones

Food on table; Good on NickyP

This is all about what Nicholas Pooran wants…I’m doing what’s best for myself and for my family.”

do what yuh need tuh do boss

forget four or five non-entity internet warriors

“This has nothing to do with West Indies cricket, how it is, what it is, or 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.”

West Indies cricket will test your love for the game, not on the pitch, but in the boardroom. It’s hard to miss how fickle the whole setup has become, run by management that feels stuck in another century, with a board that still carries itself like the plantation never really shut down; it just changed its name and stationery.

They draft rules for tournaments with plenty of fanfare, then treat the outcomes like optional reading when the results don’t suit them. Selection “policies” bend, standards shift midstream, and accountability somehow always lands everywhere except where decisions are actually made. Players get lectures about discipline and commitment, while the people in charge operate without either.

So yes, go play your cricket in places that respect your talent and your time, Pooran. Choose stability over confusion, clarity over politics. Enjoy your family, enjoy your life, and keep your joy for the game intact.

You will be missed by the fans, at least.

Sarge

@sgtdjones

It is a New year! Nicky has made his bed let him sleep in it. WI cricket is bigger than Nickyp.

@sgtdjones

And here comes the Chief BL missing the point as usual.

@natty_forever

No man is bigger than WI cricket. We are not interested in Nicky Pooran's choice of career and reason why. Our focus is WI cricket.

Your head too hard to understand that we are not interested in Nicky Pooran who is clearly too full of himself.

Happy New Year! Resolution for you: Engage your brain before typing.

@voiceofreason

My notation shows problems in the "first two paragraphs at CWI."Yet you bypassed what I wrote.

He chose "stability over confusion" and clarity over politics.It was a podcast where questions were phrased at him.

@sgtdjones

Says no man is bigger than whatever, yet his man bigger than whatever, failure after failure.