How did Pooran fare as Windies limited-overs captain

Following a dismal performance in the T20 World Cup 2022 edition, Nicholas Pooran announced to step down from the West Indies limited-overs captaincy role with immediate effect. Even though the Windies did not yet announce Pooran's successor, the candidate would surely be picked by the suggestions which are to be made by the three-member panel appointed by the CWI board to review their early World Cup exit.

Image Credits: WION

As limited-overs captain, Pooran did not enjoy success as much as he would have liked and this sudden decision was written all over the wall and was clearly visible to all those who are looking for answers following their dismal performance in the World Cup! Moreover, the captaincy role has also affected Pooran's own batting form and was supported by his poor scores in the T20 World Cup in Australia - 5, 7, and 13. A total of just 25 runs from 3 games.

Pooran was entrusted with the full-time limited-overs captaincy in May earlier this year after the then captain Kieron Pollard hung up his boots at the International level. Under Pooran's full-time captaincy (since May 2022), the Windies had won just 4 out of 15 T20Is and 4 out of 15 ODIs contributing even more weight to this decision!

In the T20 World Cup in Australia, West Indies were thrashed by minnows Scotland in their tournament opener and a defeat to Ireland in a must-win game saw them out of the tournament. Their only positive in this year's mega event was a come-from-behind victory against Zimbabwe in their second game!

In the absence of Kieron Pollard in July last year the then vice-captain Nicholas Pooran was promoted as T20I captain and led West Indies to a 4-1 victory in a 5-match T20I series against Australia. Pooran also led WI to a 3-0 series victory against the Netherlands in a 3-match ODI series just after taking up the full-time captaincy role this year. These are the only two positive results for Pooran as captain of the West Indies limited-overs side.

The Cricket West Indies board is yet to announce Pooran's successor in both the limited-overs formats. Rovman Powell and Shai Hope are the current vice-captains of the West Indies T20I and ODI sides respectively. However, we believe that their promotion to full-time captaincy will depend a lot on the suggestions made by the three-member review panel that includes Brian Lara and Mickey Arthur.