West Indies star Nicholas Pooran, regarded as one of the best T20I batters in modern-day cricket, played a key role in West Indies' first bilateral series win over team India since 2006 and was adjudged The Player of the Series for his heroics. The five-match T20I series between India and West Indies ended 3-1 with the hosts winning the series decider by eight wickets at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida on Sunday.
Meanwhile, left-handed batter Nicholas Pooran showed his bruises on social media, jokingly thanking Brandon King and Arshdeep Singh for the same. Chasing 166, Pooran 47(35) stitched a solid 107-run partnership for the second with Brandon King 85*(55) in the series decider between India and West Indies. The duo took away the game from India, helping their team crush the visitors by eight wickets and clinch the T20I series 3-2.
During his innings, Pooran was struck with the ball on multiple occasions.
"The after effects. Thank you brandon king and arsdeep," his caption read.
Pooran, second-highest run-getter for West Indies in T20Is, was in red-hot form during IND vs WI five-match T20I series 2023. The star wicketkeeper-batter scored 176 runs at a strike rate of 141.94 in five T20 matches against India. He will next be seen in action in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023.
One of the major factors behind India's T20 series loss against West Indies was their average bowling attack. Barring Kuldeep Yadav, all other Indian bowlers disappointed. Captain Hardik Pandya, who after the series loss said that 'it is okay to lose sometimes' conceded 32 runs in his 3 overs in the series decider (IND vs WO 5th T20I), without taking any wicket. In the batting department, only debutant Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav rose to the occasion, whenever it was needed.
Post T20 series loss to Windies, India will get a chance to set the record straight when they square off against Ireland in a three-match T20I series, starting from August 18 onwards.