Gros-Islet, Saint Lucia: Nicholas Pooran on Tuesday insisted "sacrifice and hard work" have been key to him succeeding Chris Gayle as the West Indies leading T20 run-maker. The 28-year-old Trinidadian passed the 2,000-run mark in the international game's shortest format when he clobbered Afghanistan for 98 in his team's 104-run victory in Monday's concluding group stage game of the World Cup. For good measure, he also surpassed Gayle for most sixes by a West Indies batsman in T20 international cricket, taking his total to 128 to his former teammate's 124.
"I'm just really happy that I can continue what he left. He obviously set the platform for us," said Pooran of Gayle. "He's the definition of batting in T20 cricket.
And I'm just really happy that I can continue to entertain people and take over where he has left." Until Monday, however, Pooran had struggled at this World Cup where pitches have tended to be slow and low. In the first three group games, he made 17 against New Zealand, 22 in the clash with Uganda and 27 facing Papua New Guinea.
The roller-coaster nature of his World Cup campaign has reflected large parts of his own career. After playing at the 2014 Under-19 World Cup, a serious car accident sidelined him for a lengthy period. Pooran then featured in a head-spinnng array of franchise events before he made his international mark at the 2019 50-over World Cup, hitting a majestic 118 in a win over Sri Lanka.
Later that year, he served a four-game ban for ball-tamp.
