In the recently concluded T20I series, Nicholas Pooran was the highest run-getter with 164 runs across five innings. His strike rate of 122.39 was the lowest amongst the top five run-getters. Pooran has a T2OI career strike rate of 127.08 with an average of 25.23 for 1009 runs.
These stats are way different than his numbers in overall T20 matches. Pooran’s average is nearly the same but his strike rate of 142.46 is significantly greater. In this piece, we analyze the batting stats of Pooran and compare them with different factors to have a better understanding of his numbers in T20I.
Playing in West Indies
In the Caribbean Premier League, Pooran has the 7th highest strike rate(149.75) amongst batters who have faced more than 125 balls. Only Kieron Pollard has more runs than Pooran at a much better strike rate. Pooran has a strike rate of 119.52 in T20Is in the West Indies, which is significantly lower than his CPL stats. But the strike rate for batters (number 3-6) in West Indies is only 114.68. He is at par with the average batter.
By host country
The batter has played the majority of his T20I innings between positions 3-6, so a comparison has been made between Pooran and the overall stats of the other batters at that position to analyze Pooran’s performance.
Pooran has performed exceptionally well in India with the strike rate and average being far better than the overall standard. A high strike rate in UAE is also seen in IPL 2020. Other WI batters take eight balls to hit a boundary in UAE, whereas Pooran takes only 5.44 balls. Statistically, he has only struggled in Sri Lanka, but those are returns of a single inning. It can be analyzed that the batter has played significantly better than his teammates in those situations.
Ability to strike big
The batter does have a good strike rate (154.99) in IPL, though the average is only 22.44. It’s due to one bad season, where he was just not able to contribute. If we omit the 2021 season, Pooran strikes at 165 with a healthy average of 32.5, scoring more than 500 runs.
In the 2020 season of IPL, 20 players scored more than 350 runs. Only Pooran had a strike rate of above 160 (169.7). To put more perspective to it, there were only three players who had a strike rate between 150-160. The left-hander from West Indies was scoring at a quick pace and with consistency.
Conclusion
The batters from West Indies are known to be attacking, and they play fearless cricket. Their depth in batting was evident in the 2nd match vs England when the 9th wicket added 70 runs in 5 five overs. In such a scenario, a batter-like Pooran ensures stability. He is someone who understands the situation of the game and plays accordingly.
West Indies play three T20I’s against India after the ODI series, and Pooran will be the vice-captain. A lot of responsibility will be on his shoulders, given his stats in India. They have lost the last three T20 series against India and have never won a series in India. Pooran, along with his other teammates, would be looking to change that record.