Pooran looking to bounce back after poor IPL form

(BBC) – Nicholas Pooran has admitted to feeling that he had let himself down
during IPL 2021, but insisted that he was “not concerned at all” about his form
ahead of the T20 World Cup.
“The IPL is gone. It’s done for me,” he said, speaking from West Indies’ training
base in Dubai. “I just have to refocus and go again. I know personally (that] I’ve
let myself down) in terms of not sticking with my process long enough. I felt like I
rushed the results a lot and I paid the price. You could see that in my scores. It’s
just for me to refocus now, hit the nets, work hard and plan again – simple as
that.”
Pooran, West Indies’ vice-captain for the World Cup, made 85 runs at an
average of 7.72 playing for Punjab Kings in the IPL this season, a stark contrast
to his record in 2020, in which he averaged 35.30 with a strike rate of 169.71
across 14 innings. He made 32 off 22 in his first innings of the IPL’s UAE leg, but
managed 25 runs in his next four innings.
He said that his record in West Indies’ home summer and in the CPL for Guyana
Amazon Warriors indicated that his poor run in the IPL was simply a blip, and
that he had faced so few balls in the tournament that his record could not be
called “form”.
“I’m not concerned at all,” he said. “My cricket is based on confidence and my
intent. I left the first half of the season scoring what, 20 runs in five, six, seven
games (28 runs in six innings). I came and did decent in the last three series for
West Indies and in CPL.
“It’s about my process, continuing to believe in my process, having faith in my
process, and my confidence is very high. I have no doubts in my mind that I can
execute my gameplan and do good for the team.
“It’s just games. A lot of sportsmen and a lot of cricketers have bad times but
that’s fine. All cricketers do have that patch and come out of it. I wouldn’t say it’s
a patch for me. I came to the second half of IPL batting really good for West
Indies and Guyana in CPL.

“To me, it’s not form. When you think about it, I haven’t really faced many balls in
all honesty. It’s just for me to give myself a chance.”
Pooran added that while West Indies were focussed on playing “smart cricket” at
the World Cup and were looking to improve their strike rotation ahead of the
tournament, they would not sway far from their primary strength:- hitting sixes.
“For the last couple of months, in the three series in the Caribbean (against
South Africa, Australia and Pakistan), everything was about ‘singles, singles,
singles’,” Pooran said. “We spoke about it and chatted about it. We have players
that play certain roles but as a batting group we want to get better, we want to
improve.
“Yes, singles are a part of the game, but our focus is not too much on singles.
We won two World Cups with the same problem, to be honest: not getting
singles, but yet we won two World Cups. I don’t think the emphasis is on getting
singles. It’s more about intent – intent and playing smart cricket, that’s it.
“There are times that we know we’ll have to put egos aside and grind deep for
the team. If that’s batting a dot ball or trying to get a single, we’ll do that. We
have net sessions and match scenarios when we try to play to our strengths but
also play to the conditions, which is finding how to get a single or working out
how to get a single. We are working. We’re not the best at getting singles but it’s
a work in progress and we believe in our process and our team.”
During the last T20 World Cup, which West Indies won thanks to Carlos
Brathwaite’s four successive sixes off Ben Stokes in the last over of the final
match against England, Pooran was recovering from the car crash that left him
with career-threatening injuries, and described his inclusion in the upcoming
tournament – and his role as vice-captain – as a “proud moment”.
“It’s a big achievement for me,” he said. “I remember in the last World Cup, I was
not recovered from my injury. I was always thinking about T20 World Cup – I
wanted to be part of a T20 World Cup.
“Processing it now, it’s a big achievement for me, being vice-captain. It was
never one of my goals to be a West Indies captain or vice-captain but it’s my job,
and I’m happy I can contribute in any way, supporting Polly (Kieron Pollard) and
the coach. It’s a proud moment for me and my family.”