Ravichandran Ashwin Hails Nicholas Pooran After His Match-Winning Cameo Against India

Ravichandran Ashwin was all praise for his former Kings XI Punjab teammate Nicholas Pooran after his impressive cameo in the second T20I between India and West Indies on Sunday. West Indies thrashed the hosts by eight wickets to level the three-match series. After restricting India to 170 for 7, West Indies chased down the total with nine balls remaining.

Asked to bat first, India were off to an unimpressive start. India’s openers once again failed to give the team a good start as KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma departed cheaply. But India did not find themselves on the backfoot thanks to Shivam Dube’s stunning counter assault. Promoted at number three, the allrounder took the West Indies bowlers to the cleaners, slamming 54 off just 30 balls.

His knock contained three fours and four sixes. Rishabh Pant also played a handy knock of 33. Towards the end, the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja failed to give India a good finish. West Indies, in reply, were off to a stunning start with Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons adding 73 runs for the first wicket before the former departed.

Simmons and Shimron Hetmyer then added 39 runs before a stunning catch from Virat Kohli saw the latter depart. But any hopes of capitalising on the breakthrough soon disappeared as Nicholas Pooran came out all guns blazing. The southpaw slammed 38 off just 18 while Simmons remained unbeaten on 66.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Slams Teammates For Poor Finishing And Fielding

Ravichandran Ashwin hails Pooran:

As Nicholas Pooran was taking the game away from India, his former IPL teammate Ravichandran Ashwin took to Twitter to laud him. With West Indies needing 59 runs off 38 balls when Nicholas Pooran came out to bat, the match was headed towards a close finish. However, the left-handed batsman, who missed the previous game due to a suspension, did not let India take command of the proceedings.

In just 18 balls, he hit four fours and a couple of sixes to take his team home. Impressed with his performance, Ashwin took to Twitter to call Pooran special, writing:

“This guy Pooran ??‍♂️.. ( special )”

This guy Pooran ??‍♂️.. ( special )

— Ashwin ?? (@ashwinravi99) December 8, 2019