The IPL, over the years, has become a wonderful platform to help get careers off the ground. Look no further than Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, who started out young to Mumbai Indians and later became star performers. That said, the IPL has also resurrected the careers of international players, such as Andre Russell and Sunil Narine of the West Indies, whose T20 stocks grew with the success they achieved playing for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Gautam Gambhir knows talent when he sees it, and while he has named certain players to watch out for at the 13th IPL, the former India starter hitter has one more name in mind; a promising youngster from the West Indies, who has been hailed as the next big thing in Windies cricket by none other than Chris Gayle: dynamic left-handed hitter Nicholas Pooran, who will play for the Punjab Kings XI.
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In fact, Gambhir is so impressed with the 24-year-old hitter that he mentioned Pooran and AB de Villiers in the same sentence and endorsed the Windies hitter to play hits all over the floor. Gambhir feels that a player of Pooran’s caliber should flourish under the leadership of Anil Kumble, who is serving as KXIP’s coach this year.
“For me, Nicholas Pooran is the young player I would like to see in this IPL. We talk about AB de Villiers as a 360 degree player but Nicholas Pooran has all kinds of shots. He can play the reverse sweep, the normal sweep and he is able to play the big shots, ”Gambhir said during a discussion on the Star Sports chat show Cricket Connected.
“So a player like that, when he plays with a coach like Anil Kumble, I have full confidence that Anil Kumble will be able to bring out the best in him. A great coach, who had won the title from the Mumbai Indians, I would like to see what he can do with the Kings XI ”.
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Another former cricketer who highly praises Pooran is New Zealand’s Scott Styris. Styris recognizes that for KXIP to use Pooran’s talents to the fullest, management must be smart in their approach and have the young man improve order.
“Players like Nicholas Pooran, whom we have seen in the IPL, need to have more important roles for their team. I think for Kings XI Punjab to have a great tournament, they must be given a real responsibility, ”said Styris. “It needs to be moved up, not quite to the top of the order, but it certainly gets most of the deliveries at the entrances.”
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