Nicholas Pooran is on fire in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) star is currently justifying every penny of his Rs 21 crore retention fee, having slammed 145 runs in two games at a ridiculous strike-rate of 258.93. While the stylish left-hander is arguably the best T20 batter in the world right now, he wasn’t held in such high regard when LSG shelled out Rs 16 crore for him ahead of IPL 2023, under the mentorship and guidance of Gautam Gambhir. Now, however, Gambhir’s decision is proving to be a masterstroke.
Gambhir was LSG’s mentor in the franchise’s first two seasons (2022 and 2023), and was the driving force behind the squad being built. In the IPL 2023 auction, LSG caught eyeballs for the sensational fee they paid to get the services of Pooran.
Back then, while Pooran’s ability wasn’t in question, he was seen as a rather inconsistent batter. Pooran had managed season run tallies of 306, 85, 353 and 168 in his four IPL seasons up to that point, highlighting his inconsistency.
But Gambhir – now Team India’s head coach – had a clear-cut vision in acquiring Pooran.
“We did not even think about what he did in the last IPL season. It was just his ability. We were clear on the fact that we had to have someone like him, someone of his caliber,” Gambhir had explained after LSG bought Pooran, speaking to JioCinema.
“He is 26-27 (years old) and probably he is going to start peaking from here on. It’s not about how many runs you score, it’s about the impact, if he can win 3-4 games, he has that ability. How many players have the ability to play in the top 4 and as well at 6-7? Nicholas has that,” Gambhir stated.
Pooran has gone from strength to strength since. After scoring 358 runs in IPL 2023, Pooran broke the shackles and amassed 499 runs in IPL 2024 at a strike rate of over 178.
The West Indian star smashed 2,331 runs across T20s in 2024, the highest-ever in a single calendar year in the history of the format.
Now, Pooran seems to be unleashing his best form. At 29, the Trinidad and Tobago-born southpaw his proving exactly why he was worth Rs 16 crore then and is worth the Rs 21 crore retention fee now.
Coming in to bat at No. 3, Pooran and LSG seem to have found the sweet spot. And they have Gautam Gambhir to thank too!
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