“A lot of my decisions you may not like” – Pooran on captaincy

…says not underestimating the Netherlands

Today, not only will the West Indian cricket team embark on their first-ever One-Day International (ODI) series in the Netherlands but recently-appointed Captain Nicholas Pooran will completely take the reins of the team.
A little over a month ago, West Indies Men’s white-ball Captain Kieron Pollard shockingly announced his retirement from international cricket, making way for the ascension of the explosive batsman, who has acted in the role before.
Now, with his first series as the official captain on the horizon, Pooran is pretty confident that he has what it takes to lead the Men in Maroon.
The batsman expressed his thoughts on the subject during a virtual pre-match press conference on Monday.
“I’m very confident, confident in my ability as well. I believe I’m here to win and I’ll do what it takes to try to get some points for us and get some victories for us. You know, we’re looking to be successful as a team, as a group and that’s our goal. So, my mindset is to get the guys headed in the same direction, so we could be victorious,” the Trinidadian player shared.

Still on the topic of his captaincy, Pooran likened his leadership style to that of his batting, admitting that he expected push-back over his impending decisions.
“[I will] Try to make the best decision for the team. I’m very instinctive,” he said, “a lot of my decisions you guys may not like, but, hopefully, it could be the right decision for the team at that point in time, it’s similar to my batting a bit. Hopefully, that goes well.”
Pooran was also quizzed about the team’s reaction and revealed that they have been fully supportive of his new role.
“The support has been really good, the guys are gelling well. It’s just the beginning; obviously, in the beginning, it isn’t that challenging. For now, the guys are on the same page with us and they’re supporting us good and that’s wonderful,” Pooran disclosed.
With their first ODI scheduled to commence at 05:00h (5am) local time this morning, Pooran says the Netherlands are “not to be underestimated”, given their recent performances.
The new West Indies white-ball captain remarked, “Obviously, we don’t want to be complacent. We just saw the Netherlands play New Zealand and they did well, it wasn’t successful, but as a team, I thought they played really well. They have some good players as well, with goods skills. So, we’re looking forward to the contest and hopefully we can do the right thing: just stay in the present and get those victories.”
Touching on the team’s batting woes that have plagued their success in the past, Pooran remains optimistic that his colleagues have been able to learn from their mistakes.
“The last series to now, we had two months; guys went back home. There was a camp in Antigua as well, a lot of guys went there and they worked on their batting as well. So, hopefully what they learnt in that camp, they can go out tomorrow (today) in this series and try to execute what they learnt.”
“Again, we can’t make runs every single game, but hopefully as a team, we can just learn from our mistakes, learn from the past. Hopefully, the future is bright,” the WI Captain concluded.
The West Indies will play three ODIs in the Netherlands, on May 31 (today), June 2, and June 4 respectively. (Jemima Holmes)