West Indies Skipper Nicholas Pooran Quits White-Ball Captaincy After World Cup Debacle

With the West Indies making an unceremonious early exit from the Men's T20 World Cup, Nicholas Pooran has decided to relinquish the white-ball captaincy of the West Indies men's team just after the 2022 tournament ended in Australia, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) informed on Monday.

Two-time T20 World Cup winners West Indies crashed out of the 2022 edition in Australia in the first round, losing to Scotland and Ireland and thus finishing last in the four-team group. Zimbabwe and Ireland qualified for the Super 12 from this group.

Pooran said he decided to quit to give Cricket West Indies enough time to conduct a review into the debacle and have plenty of time to prepare for the next series of matches against South Africa.

"I have given the captaincy a great deal of thought since the enormous disappointment of the T20 World Cup. I took on the role with great pride and dedication and have given it absolutely everything over the past year.

"The T20 World Cup is something that must not define us and I will readily get involved in the upcoming reviews. And whilst it will be several months until we reconvene as a squad, I want to give CWI plenty of time to prepare for the matches against South Africa in March and beyond," Pooran was quoted as saying in a release by Cricket West Indies.

Pooran led West Indies in 17 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and 23 T20Is, recording series wins against the Netherlands (ODI 3-0) and Bangladesh (T20I 2-0).

"This is not me giving up. I remain ambitious and still view the captaincy of West Indies cricket as an honour that is bestowed upon you. There is no doubt I remain fully committed to West Indies cricket and I look forward to providing my services as a senior player in a supportive role."

Pooran led the West Indies in the absence of Kieron Pollard, enjoying a T20 International (T20I) Series win against Australia at home (4-1). He was officially appointed West Indies men's white-ball captain in May this year when Pollard stepped down.

"By stepping down now as the West Indies white ball captain I believe it is in the best interests of the team and for me personally, as I need to concentrate on what I can deliver to the side as a player. I desperately want us to be successful and the most value I can give to the team is through fully focusing on the role of consistently scoring runs at crucial times," he said

CWI Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams thanked Pooran for his time leading the two teams.

"On behalf of CWI, I want to thank Nicholas for his time leading our white ball teams. Having spoken with him I know he remains fully committed to West Indies cricket and I am convinced he has a big role to play in our future," Adams said.'

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The West Indies men's next white-ball series is against South Africa in March 2023 (directly after the two-Test Match Series) and consists of three ODIs and three T20Is.