ICC World Cup 2019 | I expect big things from Nicholas Pooran, states Jason Holder

ICC World Cup 2019 | I expect big things from Nicholas Pooran, states Jason Holder

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Jason Holder has expressed his pleasure with the way Nicholas Pooran has been performing as he vowed to take him under his wings for development to fulfil his potential after the youngster scored a century against Sri Lanka. He also remarked on their hard-fought loss against the Asian team.

West Indies have had a disappointing campaign so far, having been already eliminated from the tournament before they took the field against Sri Lanka on Monday. In what culminated into another loss, Nicholas Pooran’s brilliant innings was certainly a silver lining.

Coming into the match when his team was reeling on 71/3 after 15.2 overs with all the top three batsmen back to the pavilion, he took his team so very close to victory. His innings was one of the few momentary joys that the Windies fans will be taking away from the tournament.

“Nicholas played an outstanding innings, he knocked it around as easily as he possibly could. What he has produced is what we expect him to produce, we want him to get better and improve,” Jason Holder stated, reported Scroll.in.

Having only played one ODI before coming into the mega event, Pooran has 309  runs in the tournament at an average of 51.50 and an excellent strike rate of 95.67. For a 23-year-old, those are excellent stats and all the seniors have high hopes from him. Only recently, Chris Gayle had labelled him as the ‘mini-universe boss.’

“We selected him for a reason and gave him full backing to go and play the game he wants to play. Yes he will make mistakes as a young player but it is important for development to take place. We will look after Nicholas the best we possibly can, I expect big things,” Holder continued.

He paced his innings wonderfully even though wickets kept falling on the end. He ended up with 118 runs off 103 balls laced with 11 fours and four sixes. He ran the opposition bowlers ragged and almost led his country to what would have been a special victory for him.

“He has got the talent, ability to change gears, he can improvise, has every shot in the locker and it is just a matter of him putting it together more often, the skipper added.

A seventh loss on the trot means West Indies will be desperate for a win against Afghanistan on Tuesday in order to end the quadrennial tournament on a high note. “It is disappointing to come so close on a number of stages and not get that win,” concluded Holder.

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