Nicholas Pooran Reveals Sleepless Night For West Indies Cricketers After COVID Outbreak In Contingent

Stand-in West Indies T20I captain Nicholas Pooran revealed that the majority of players spent a sleepless night in Karachi, Pakistan after a total of nine members of their contingent were found COVID positive.

West Indies was hit by Covid on arrival as Sheldon Cottrell, Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers tested positive for the virus and were ruled out of the three-match T20I series. However, ahead of the third T20I of the series, three more players and a total of five members tested positive for Covid.

This included wicketkeeper-batsman Shai Hope, left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, all-rounder Justin Greaves, assistant coach Roddy Estwick, and physician Akshai Mansingh. Hope was to captain the West Indies side in the three-match ODI series which followed the T20Is, in absence of Kieron Pollard.

However, both Cricket West Indies and Pakistan Cricket Board talked and decided to postpone the ODI series to June 2022 as West Indies were lacking enough players to properly play in the series.

We Spent The Whole Day Wondering Whether We Should Play This Game Or Not: Nicholas Pooran

Despite doubts over the completion of the T20I series, West Indies took to field with the remainder of players and though they lost the match and the series 0-3, stand-in skipper Nicholas Pooran was mightily impressed with the courage his team showed in the game on December 16.

The final T20I was only allowed to take place after rapid Antigen tests were conducted on the remaining 15 players and six support staff members on Thursday, all of which came back negative. In the post-match presentation, Pooran revealed the mental state of the players before the game.

“Most of the guys haven’t slept the whole night and I’m very proud of the unit. I want to commend all the guys for making that extra effort to come out to play today. We spent the whole day wondering whether we should play this game or not. A lot of positives and a lot of guys took their opportunities. A special bunch of guys and we have competed throughout and well done to the guys,” said Pooran after West Indies lost the final T20I by seven wickets.

Despite putting up 207 runs on the board, West Indies bowlers couldn’t contain the duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, as Pakistan completed their record chase in T20Is.

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