Nicholas Pooran Is A 360 Degree Batsman Like AB de Villiers: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, former Indian opener-turned politician, has heaped high praise on the swashbuckling West Indian southpaw, Nicholas Pooran, adding that the KXIP batsman is in the mould of the legendary AB de Villiers when it comes to 360-degree strokeplay.

Nicholas Pooran has impinged himself as one of the fiercest stroke makers of the modern era in his short career span. Pooran, who stroked a whirlwind hundred in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League [CPL] will be one the batsman to watch out for in the upcoming season of the IPL.

Pooran will be playing under the leadership of KL Rahul and Anil Kumble and Gambhir is hopeful that the latter will be able to extract the best out of the West Indian.

“For me, Nicholas Pooran is the young player I would like to watch in this IPL. We talk about AB de Villiers as a 360-degree player but Nicholas Pooran has all types of shots. He can play the reverse sweep, normal sweep and is capable of playing the big shots.” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected

“So such a player, when he plays under a coach like Anil Kumble, I have full confidence that Anil Kumble will be able to extract the best out of him,” he added.

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‘He needs to be moved up’- Scott Styris on Nicholas Pooran

Gautam Gambhir also went on to hail former Indian leg-spinner, Anil Kumble, as a great coach and he is hoping that the legendary cricketer adds another feather to his cap by winning the maiden IPL title for the Kings XI Punjab.

”A great coach, who had won Mumbai Indians the title, I would want to see what he can do with the Kings XI.” Gambhir said.

Meanwhile, former Kiwi all-rounder Scott Syris said that players like Pooran should be given bigger roles in the side besides adding that KXIP should promote the swashbuckler up the order and allow him to play the majority of the overs.

“Players like Nicholas Pooran, who we have seen in the IPL, need to have bigger roles for their side. I think for Kings XI Punjab to have a big tournament, he needs to be given real responsibility. He needs to be moved up, not quite to the top of the order but certainly given a majority of the deliveries in the innings.” Styris said.

Nicholas Pooran made his IPL debut last year but he played just 7 games in which he scored 168 runs at a strike-rate of 157.