IPL 2021: Chris Gayle's Simplest Advice Works Wonders For Punjab's Nicholas Pooran

Nicholas Pooran, who had the best batting strike rate for batsmen with over 300 runs in the last edition of the Indian Premier League, says his Punjab Kings teammate and fellow West Indian Chris Gayle

"Players are also human beings. I think a lot of people forget that they are human beings at the end of the day. You have feelings, you have emotions as well and it is a challenge. As professionals, we have to take it on our chin and find a way to live with it," he said.

The southpaw finished his assignment with the West Indies in the home series against Sri Lanka on March 14 and was soon on his way to India, spending the mandatory week-long quarantine inside the hotel room.

"I slept a lot. [Besides] I spent a lot of time on my phone - Whatsapp, Instagram, Netflix - and doing workouts in my room. I have started to watch 'Lucifer' [on Netflix]. It is quite okay," he added. Pooran feels that the Punjab franchise did well last year but was unlucky to miss out on the playoff spot.

Known as Kings XI Punjab till last year, the franchise was in the race for the playoffs till the last two matches. However, two successive losses, in the end, dashed their hopes of qualifying for the last four stages.

"To be fair, last time we did get a lot of good scores. We were scoring 180-plus. I don't think we played badly last year. This year we again have a good team. We have a lot of power [in batting]," Pooran added. The Trinidadian is among a large number of West Indian players who play T20 franchise cricket across the world.

He feels that West Indies have some of the best T20 cricketers in the world, which makes them favorites for the T20 World Cup scheduled later this year.

"We are always the underdogs at a World Cup. I think we have the best T20 players in the world. Once we play as a team, I don't think anyone can beat us. We will be looking forward to playing as a team. We have a great chance to win the World Cup again," he said.