3 players SRH could have picked instead of Nicholas Pooran

IPL’s motto states, “Where talent meets opportunity.” It is true for many players, who have catapulted their careers through the biggest T20 league in the world – IPL. But a few players have not yet utilized the opportunity to their full potential despite being called ‘the next big thing’ for their respective national teams. One such example is the West Indies’ star player Nicholas Pooran. The Trinidadian wicketkeeper-batter has been a mainstay for the national team since 2016, but his IPL career has been quite a topsy-turvy ride. The 2020 IPL was a fruitful season for Pooran in which he scored a total of 353 runs in the 14 matches and smashed 25 sixes in all. On the contrary, In IPL 2021, Nicholas Pooran was a downright failure as he scored only 85 runs in 12 matches. 

There’s no doubt about Pooran’s capabilities. He has a decent T20 record but his inconsistency has been an issue to everyone’s astonishment he was picked by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2022 IPL auction for a giant price tag of INR 10.75 crores notwithstanding his poor display in the previous season. Speaking of this season, Pooran has been playing the role of a finisher sensibly along with Aiden Markram. He has scored a total of 116 runs from seven innings which include four not-out knocks. Amidst the uncertain prospect of Pooran there hangs a question that, whether a better buy would have been possible instead of Pooran? So here are three players SRH could have picked instead of Pooran.

3 players SRH could have picked instead of Nicholas Pooran

1. Dinesh Karthik

The man about whom everyone is talking. Yes, it is Dinesh Karthik. In the absence of the RCB’s most valuable asset AB de Villiers, Karthik’s defiant heroics were the most talked-about aspect in the first half of the season. He has finished games with sheer consistency and steadied RCB’s sinking ship more than once in this season so far. He has scored a total of 216 runs in nine matches with an incredible average of 72.00 and an astonishing strike rate of 198.17.

The intent of getting back into the Indian squad and playing the upcoming T20 World Cup has reflected in the way he is hitting the ball and that has in turn helped RCB a great deal as of yet. Royal Challengers Banglore bought Dinesh Kartik at half the price Sunrisers Hyderabad paid for Nicholas Pooran. There are some distinct parallels between Karthik and Pooran such as both of them a play in the middle order, both are wicket-keepers of their respective sides and have the duty to finish the games but what makes Karthik a better prospect than Pooran is the years of experience, his current form and the intent with which he has been batting in this season. 

So this is certainly a no-brainer when we think of a player Sunrisers should have bought instead of Nicholas Pooran. The numbers tell us the same story as well and as experience also counts in T20s, Dinesh Kartik seems someone who would have been a better choice than the West Indian for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in hindsight.