Pooran's Batting Masterclass - Leading West Indies to T20 series victory
Nicholas Pooran was the key for West Indies' win in the T20I Series (Source: AP Photos)
The T20I series between West Indies and India has been very riveting, where the West Indies finally won a bilateral series against the Men in Blue in 2016. The main hero for the West Indies was the swashbuckling southpaw Nicholas Pooran, the most consistent batsman for the West Indies in the series. Pooran’s fantastic display of ball striking and scoring valuable runs was enough to adjudge him the player of the series in the 5-match T20I series and played a crucial role in his side to win them the series 3-2.
Pooran also played a major role in the side by making up for the failure of the top order in the series and putting pressure on the Indian bowling attack, and getting West Indies to respectable totals as well. With these great performances, there is no doubt he was the best batsman for West Indies in this ODI series.
Pooran's Batting Carnage: Crushing Indian Bowling Attack
X-axis: Strike Rate, Y-axis: Runs Scored
Unsurprisingly, this T20I series belonged to Nicholas Pooran, where his counter-attacking approach caused many problems for the Indian Bowlers. He was the leading run-scorer in the series with 176 runs in 5 matches at an average of 35.20 and had a massive strike rate of 141.93. It was interesting to see that Pooran had the same approach regardless of the type of bowlers he was facing, as he was said to be a better bowler against pace than spin.
He has scored the most runs against Indian skipper Hardik Pandya against whom he scored 41 runs from 28 balls at a strike rate of 146.4. Despite his struggle against spin in the past, he still looked good against world-class spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel, where he still slogged them playing with the spin.
He has scored 31 from 19 balls against Chahal, striking him at 163.2 and striking Axar Patel at 325 of the four balls he has faced of him this series. The young and inexperienced bowlers like Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar also faced the wrath of Pooran as he was striking them at 225 and 158.3, respectively.
Out of all the bowlers, only Kuldeep Yadav seemed threatening against Pooran, against whom he has only scored 34 from the 35 deliveries he faced and not only had a low strike rate of 97.1 against him but was also dismissed twice by him.
Even the left-arm pace of Arshdeep Singh kept him quiet despite not dismissing him Pooran has had the lowest strike rate against him in the series, which is 91.7. Through these stats, we know how Pooran has dominated the Indian bowlers relentlessly.
Conclusion
Pooran played a crucial role in compensating for any top-order struggles his team faced, enabling West Indies to post competitive totals and apply pressure on the Indian bowlers.
Due to his exceptional performances, Pooran emerged as a central figure in West Indies' success. His consistent ability to perform under pressure and lead his team to victory undoubtedly establishes him as the standout batsman for West Indies in the T20I series.
The West Indies team will undoubtedly be banking on Nicholas Pooran's continued brilliance and form in the upcoming series. Pooran's consistent performances and match-winning abilities have proven to be a vital asset for the team, and his continued success will be crucial in maintaining their competitive edge.
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