Nicholas Pooran - West Indies - WK-Batsman

A prodigy, breaking school cricket records over the years, and turning up in his 20s as a blonde-haired big-hitter, Nicholas Pooran, today, has broken out as one of the many aggressive young West Indian batsmen coming up through the ranks. 

A left-handed stylish batsman, who can also double up as a wicket-keeper if necessary, Pooran's first major claim to fame was at the age of 16 the 2013 CPL, where he was signed up for Trinidad Red Steel - becoming the youngest ever player to play in the CPL - and lit up the stage in his first match with a stunning 54 off just 24 balls. He followed it up with equally impressive performances in the Champions League that followed. Representing the Windies under-19s in the U-19 World Cup of 2014, he emerged as one of the brightest talking points. finishing with 303 runs from six matches. 

However, just as his career showed signs of taking off to bigger things, he suffered a chronic ankle injury in a car accident which put him out of action for almost two years. He returned with a bang though - scoring 217 runs in the eight games - in the 2016 season of the CPL which led to an international cap against Pakistan later in the year. Trouble wasn't far though again, finding himself in a soup after opting to play in the Bangladesh Premier League over the domestic season, leading to a 10-month ban. 

A major turning point in his career came in the Canada Global T20 League in 2018 with CWI-B that put him back in the national reckoning. 

Written by - Vineet Anantharaman