Photo: SPORTZPICSKings XI Punjab’s duo of West Indian players Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran have booked their berths to England for the 2019 ICC World Cup. While this will be the fifth World Cup appearance for 39-year-old veteran opener Chris Gayle, his KXIP compatriot Nicholas Pooran will be making his maiden World Cup appearance.
Chris Gayle has been in spectacular form of late; and is currently the second highest scorer for the Shers in the VIVO Indian Premier League and will be expected to open the batting for West Indies come the World Cup. The mega tournament in England will be Gayle’s last hurrah in the One Day International format for his nation, as he had announced his retirement from the ODI format a few months earlier.
Nicholas Pooran, on the other hand, has been a relative newcomer to the International circuit having made his debut just in February in the home series against England. Despite his nascency in ODIs, Pooran has been a star performer in different franchise based T20 tournaments including his most recent stint with KXIP which has seen him score 63 runs in three innings thus far despite his limited time in the middle due to the stellar form of the Shers’ top three.
Gayle and Pooran’s West Indies side are set to kickstart their World Cup campaign on the 30th of May with a game against Pakistan.
The duo join fellow KXIP players KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and David Miller who have all been picked for their respective countries' World Cup squads.
