Pooran has yet to make his Test debut but has featured in five First Class matches.
One major problem in the West Indies in recent years has been the lack of depth and incentive to play in the longest format. Most players are superstars in T20 leagues which keeps them occupied throughout the year, leaving no time for Test matches.
There have been a few instances where a few players have expressed their wish to feature in red-ball cricket for West Indies, but since they are busy playing in various franchise leagues, they never played in the regional domestic competition. Cricket West Indies (CWI) had kept a rule that players who want to play for the West Indies must play in this local tournament to press a case.
Since the competition overlapped with the Indian Premier League (IPL), players like Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran couldn’t play. They obviously preferred playing in the biggest T20 league for financial gains, given they were sold at a hefty rate and couldn’t afford to miss the tournament.
However, that has changed since last month, and players are eligible for selection without featuring in this local tournament. Hence, several players like Hetmyer, Pooran, and Hope will be able to play in Test cricket in the coming times.
Now that the selection policy has changed, Nicholas Pooran, among the biggest names in T20 cricket, might get selected in future and play in Test matches for West Indies. He has yet to make his Test debut but has featured in five First Class matches, with the last of them coming back in 2020 when West Indies A played an unofficial Test against New Zealand A.
Overall, he has 319 runs at an average of 31.90 in ten First Class innings, including two fifties and the best of 69. Given his capabilities, he is much better than these numbers suggest and can do wonders in the format.
Meanwhile, the same applies to the likes of Hetmyer and Hope, who have been out of Test cricket for a while now. Maybe they won’t be known as white-ball specialists solely and also carve a niche for themselves in red-ball cricket.
The talent has never been an issue in West Indies cricket. If they all come together, better days are surely ahead for them.
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