Nicholas Pooran Vows To Bounce Back Strongly, Use T20 World Cup Debacle As Motivation
West Indies white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran is in no mood to quit in the aftermath of their T20 World Cup debacle, and vowed to bounce back strongly by taking the first round ouster as "motivation".
West Indies white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran is in no mood to quit in the aftermath of their T20 World Cup debacle, and vowed to bounce back strongly by taking the first round ouster as "motivation". Two-time champions West Indies were eliminated in the qualifiers for the first time in the history of the ongoing showpiece. West Indies, the most successful T20 World Cup team, failed to qualify for the Super 12 stage, following which head coach Phil Simmons has decided to step down, with the two-Test series in Australia, starting November 30 in Perth set to be his last assignment.
"Playing cricket is my dream and obviously I have had my test in life as well and this is another test for me," Pooran said ahead of leading defending champions Trinidad and Tobago in the Super50 Cup, a regional List A tournament.
"I am a person that embraces challenges and this was just another one for me. It is not going to stop me. I am going to continue to learn from my experiences and again, I am happy I can wake up in the morning and see that I have an opportunity to play cricket again," he added.
Pooran was forced into captaincy after Kieron Pollard's surprise retirement in May this year and his next big challenge would be the ODI World Cup in India next year.
As of now, the West Indies have no international white-ball assignment till the tour of South Africa in February-March next year.
"Obviously, we don't know what the future holds but we will take it day by day. Again, it was a learning experience for all of us and this is our journey and our story," Pooran said.
"Time will tell what will happen but for now it is just about focusing on ourselves and how we can get better as individuals.
"Rest is the ultimate (way to heal) and every player needs that but inside it is still hurting as well. I want to use that hurt as motivation and obviously come back strong." Blaming the batters for their disastrous T20 World Cup campaign, Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt has called for a "thorough post mortem".
Echoing similar views, CWI's chief executive Johnny Grave has said that they need honest soul-searching to come up with answers but refused to quit.
"I'm not in control of that (exit). My contract runs out June 2023. But am I a quitter? Am I going to resign? No, I'm not," Grave said on the Mason and Guest radio show.
"For whatever reason we did not execute under pressure in Hobart. Now, was there too much pressure placed on the team? Why did the players not execute those skills?" Urging the demoralised team to buck up, Grave said: "It can't just be players or coaches. It's got to be people who understand and have been successful in both setting strategies and structures, and also players who have executed them. We've got get the information from our players and dig deep."
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West Indies Cricket Team
Nicholas Pooran