Cricket West Indies previously approached Nicholas Pooran, their former captain, ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, which will start on February 7, to check whether he would return to international cricket now that he has retired after being in form during playing T20 leagues. Seeing his performance, the board looked into returning him before the great event.

 

West Indies Contact Pooran Regarding Possible Comeback

 

Cricket West Indies did confirm that they were communicating with Nicholas Pooran about a come back. Then there is the Director of Cricket, Miles Bascombe, stating, "Pooran knows that there is a world cup around the corner, but at this point in time, he is at peace with his decision of retirement." He stated that the board respected the decision but still discussed matters.

 

On WESN TV, Bascombe said:

 

"What I can say is that we have made every effort to ensure that we can have the best players represent the West Indies…”

 

He added:

 

"I could definitely say that we have probed. Pooran was quite aware that the World Cup was upcoming, and his decision to retire would have been with that knowledge."

 

Bascombe then concluded:

 

"So, we probed and we saw that he mentioned not too long ago that he was quite happy to stick to his decision, so I could say that we probed.”

 

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Pooran Retired But Still Active in T20 Leagues

 

Nicholas Pooran formally announced retirement from international cricket on June 10, 2025, at the age of 29. He had also finished with the following figures:

 

• 1983 runs from 61 ODIs


• 2275 runs from 106 T20Is

 

His last appearance for West Indies came in December 2024 in a home T20I against Bangladesh at Kingstown. Though retired from international cricket, Pooran has chosen to play in many of the big T20 leagues across the world.

 

Updates on His Form After Retirement

 

Pooran's performance post-retirement includes MLC, CPL, ILT20, and SA20:

 

• MLC (MI New York): 13 matches, 360 runs, avg 36.00, SR 134.83, including a ton and fifty.


• CPL (TKR): 13 matches, 426 runs, avg 42.60, SR 133.12.


• ILT20 (MI Emirates): 9 matches, 267 runs, avg 44.50, SR 117.62, one fifty.


• SA20 2026 (MI Cape Town): 7 innings, 133 runs, avg 19.00, SR 151.13.

 

His strike rate has gone down a little, with fewer runs on an average number of balls compared to his pre-retirement form.

 

No Squad Yet Announced for World Cup

 

The West Indies have not yet named their squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. Their last assignment is a T20I series against Afghanistan before the tournament, for which the squad has been announced.