By the numbers: Pooran’s ascent to the top of IPL batting charts
By the numbers: Pooran’s ascent to the top of IPL batting charts
Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Lucknow Super Giants’ Nicholas Pooran plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Nicholas Pooran’s impeccable batting makes him stand out among the power-hitters in cricket’s Twenty20 format — with the numbers to prove it.
The West Indies left-hander continues to torment bowlers in the lucrative Indian Premier League. Pooran leads the “Orange Cap” batting charts with 288 runs in five IPL games of this edition for Lucknow Super Giants at a staggering strike rate (runs per 100 balls) of 225, hitting 24 sixes and 25 fours.
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at Pooran’s ascendancy to the top:
211
Wicketkeeper-batter Pooran has hit 211 sixes since 2024. That’s 87 more than the second-best Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa. Pooran broke his countryman Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes in a calendar year in 2024 by smashing 139, compared to Gayle’s 135 sixes in 2015.
“I practice a lot. Everything you see in the game is because I practice it,” Pooran said after he blazed an unbeaten 87 off just 36 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Tuesday. “You understand what’s coming -- full and wide balls, slower short ones. Spinners bowling straight or wide. And you work on it.”
738
Not many batters on the T20 circuit could maintain both a healthy strike rate and average, but Pooran has managed it in style.
Since the beginning of 2024 he has scored 738 more runs than anyone else in the shortest format of the game and is averaging 42.31 with an amazing strike rate of 162.49. In his last 10 innings the average has risen to 57.7 and the strike rate to 199.
184
Equally good against pace and spin, Pooran’s classical left-handed stance has seen him scoring at a strike rate of over 184 against spin over the last two seasons in the IPL. His brilliant hand-eye coordination has seen him smacking the left-arm pacers at a 173.5 strike rate while scoring at a strike rate of 163.5 against the right-arm fast bowlers.
“I’ve never worked on my bat speed, I’m just blessed with incredible talent,” Pooran said.
3
Lucknow gave Pooran the No. 3 spot to unleash his phenomenal batting against both pace and spin.
Team captain Rishabh Pant gave up the spot, which he called “a position of freedom” for Pooran, who has taken full advantage of the promotion.
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