Pooran: 'Never worked on my bat speed, I'm just blessed with incredible talent'
Pooran doesn't "plan to hit sixes" but only looks to "time the ball" he says after slamming a 26-ball 70 to blow away SRH
Nicholas Pooran is a six-hitting machine. He has already hit 13 sixes in two outings in IPL 2025. Six of those came in Lucknow Super Giants' LSG five-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad SRH. And yet, he does not "plan to hit sixes" but only tries to "time the ball".
"I don't plan to hit sixes," Pooran said after his 26-ball 70. "I just try my best to get in good positions and if it's there, just time the ball nicely. In the last nine years I have been working on my craft. Obviously, I have been getting the opportunity to bat higher up in the powerplay as well. It is really important to cash in when the wicket is nice and obviously when the match-up is there you try your best to execute your skills."RelatedThakur savours return after going unsold at auction
Pooran walked out to bat tenth ball of LSG's 191-run chase in Hyderabad. It did not take long for him to get going, hitting his second ball for a four and taking two sixes off Simarjeet Singh in the third over. By the time the powerplay ended, Pooran was on 44 off 16 with four fours and an equal number of sixes. He completed his half-century in just 18 balls, his third-fastest in the IPL, all the while making life tough for the SRH bowlers.
"I've never worked on my bat speed, I'm just blessed with incredible talent," he said. "I am really happy that I have put in the work over the years and I am getting the reward on the cricket field and winning games for my team as well."Nicholas Pooran and Mitchell Marsh added 116 for the second wicket•AFP/Getty Images
At LSG, it came down to having one of Pooran or Rishabh Pant batting in the top order. And the team decided that Pooran should be given that freedom to bat at No. 3 with captain Pant moving down into the middle order.
"Mostly the thought was to give freedom to him," Pant said after his first win as LSG captain. "We know what damage he can do down the order. I like that freedom too, but you have got to give someone that charge that you have to go and express yourself. The way he has been batting is phenomenal for us."
Pooran added 116 for the second with Mitchell Marsh to set the platform for LSG. It was Marsh's second half-century in two games in a competition he is cleared to play as a batter only. In both the matches, he was the Impact Player for them.
"It's a really long tournament and it's nice to see Marsh at the top of the order," Pooran said. "He's shown his class especially against the seamers there. We are playing cricketing shots and not losing wickets. Our left-right combination is really important. In important parts of the game, we drop our intensity a bit, knock it around to ensure that we continue to build partnerships and also take our match-ups down."
Marsh paid the compliment back at the press conference: "Fascinating, that's probably the word I have for it. Obviously, I've played against Nicky Pooran for a long time and and you're often on the other end of that. So to be on his team, I feel like really connect with him as a bloke and someone who I'm going to hopefully bat with a lot. He's a fantastic player.
"Pooran was unstoppable tonight."
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