The West Indies swashbuckler was one of the players to watch and he fetched a massive amount as expected.
The West Indies player has played 52 ODIs and 72 T20Is for West Indies so far. In 52 ODIs, the left-handed batsman has smacked 1555 runs at an average of 36.16. He has also hit 1 century and 11 half-centuries for the team.
In 72 T20Is, he has mustered 1427 runs at an average of 25.48 and a strike rate of 129+. He has also slammed 9 half-centuries in the shortest format with a top knock of 74 runs in one game. Pooran is yet to play any Test match for West Indies.
Pooran was sold to Lucknow Super Giants who broke the bank to get the southpaw for a gigantic INR 16 crore fee. Pooran was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad last year but was released prior to the auction.
It was a two-way fight between Lucknow and Delhi Capitals, but the former prevailed in the end to get the 27-year-old.
In the studio show pertaining to the big-money event, Gayle said that now that Pooran has got so much money from IPL auction, he should return money Gayle lent to him long back. Of course, Gayle was joking and a chuckle came from him after he completed the sentence.
“Nikki P, the money that I lend you, can I get it back please,” joked Gayle immediately after. Not to forget, Gayle added that the players who got so much money are now private jet players. “These three are private jet category players,”
The joke had his fellow pundit, Indian spin legend Anil Kumble, and host present at the studio in splits just as much as it tickled the ribs of the viewers watching the auction unfold.
Watch! ▶️ Reason number 175* why we have @henrygayle as one of our #TATAIPLAuction experts 😅
CC @nicholas_47 https://t.co/cNVWdwyohQ pic.twitter.com/vrM2KX0Lnk
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) December 23, 2022
With the latest bid on him, Pooran became the joint fourth-highest purchase at the IPL auction.
Pooran played his first IPL season in the 2019 edition. So far, he has played 47 games over the last 4 IPL seasons. He has slammed 912 runs at an average of 26.06 and a strike rate of 151+. Pooran has also slammed 4 fifties in IPL with a top knock of unbeaten 64 runs.