The star West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran has said that he is raring to prove himself for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Pooran believes that his failure in the last season for the Punjab Kings has not hampered his self-confidence and will continue to play his natural game in the forthcoming mega event.
The Windies batter was among those prominent names who had an ordinary IPL last season. Statistically speaking, Pooran scored just 85 runs from 11 innings at a horrible average of 7.73 and an abysmal strike rate of 111.84.
But the dashing left-handed batter got his mojo back this year. He has smashed 456 runs at a brilliant average of 45.6 and an impressive strike rate around 135. Furthermore, in the recently concluded T20I series against India, he hit three 60-plus scores in all three games of the series.
This sort of red-hot form has reinstalled his confidence, and the wicketkeeper-batter is hopeful of giving his absolute best for his new IPL franchise, which has shown faith in him by spending a tremendous amount of INR 10.75 crores during the IPL mega auction.
The 26-year old also said that he has learned a lot from his past failures, making him a better player.
“Just because I had one bad season, it’s not going to change the player I am. I am doing pretty well in international cricket and everyone sees that. For me, it’s about giving back to my team. The Sunrisers have invested a lot in me and so I just want to give my all for them; to me, it’s about being the best version of myself”, the Trinidadian cited.
“Things like this happen; everyone goes through patches in their career. First game last year, I got a first-ball duck, then the next game, I got a second-ball duck. Eventually, I went out to bat and didn’t even face a ball, and got run out. I am not dwelling on it too much, I believe I am a much better player now and I learned a lot from that IPL season”, he further added.
The dynamic southpaw also believes that every player has technical deficiencies, so he has started emphasising mental clarity of his role in a particular situation that has paid him rich dividends on the cricket field in the last three t20I series he has played.
“Every player has technical flaws, but to me, it’s more mental, having that clarity in my game. Once I can get into that clear space, I think I’ll be alright. As you can see in my last few t20 games, the last three international series, I’ve started to get into that mindset, knowing exactly what I want to do. So, hopefully, it continues and people can stop saying I need to keep proving myself”, Pooran said.
The newly-tinted Sunrisers Hyderabad, led by Kane Williamson, are scheduled to play their first game on 29th March against the Rajasthan Royals.