Melbourne Stars rope in Nicholas Pooran for the coming season of Big Bash League

West Indies wicket-keeper batsman Nicholas Pooran has signed for Melbourne Stars for six matches of the upcoming edition of Big Bash League. Pooran is the second overseas signing by Melbourne Stars after signing England opener Jonny Bairstow earlier this month.

Melbourne Stars confirmed that Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf will not available for this year’s competition due to his international duties for Pakistan.

Pooran is currently with West Indies T20I squad for the three-match series against New Zealand. After culmination of the T20I series, Pooran will fly to Australia to participate in the Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars. He is certainly going to miss the initial stages of the competition due to his international commitments. With Australia nearly clear from Covid-19 Pandemic, Pooran will not be subjected to go through 14-day mandatory quarantine period.

The 25-year old has produced decent numbers with the bat in the T20 format.  Earlier this year, Nicholas Pooran played for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League. Left-hander accumulated 245 runs in 11 innings at an average of 27.22 with one century and one half-century to his name.

In the recently Indian Premier League, Nicholas Pooran had an excellent outing with the bat for Kings XI Punjab. Wicket-keeper batsman finished the competition with 353 runs in 14 matches at an average of 35.30 with a strike rate of 169.71, which included two half-centuries to his name.

Nicholas Pooran said that he expected to learn a deal with Big Bash League. He stated that he is excited to play alongside Glenn Maxwell, who will lead Melbourne Stars this season. Melbourne Stars Head Coach David Hussey said that Pooran has been excellent performer in the T20 format in various conditions. He is expected to add a lot of value to the overall squad for the coming edition of Big Bash League.

Melbourne Stars will play their first match against Brisbane Heat at Manuka Oval in Canberra on 11th December on Friday.