Nicholas Pooran opens up on potential return to international cricket

Nicholas Pooran is in no mood to return to international cricket with the West Indies. Pooran, who is leading Royal Desert Champions in the 10th edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League, announced his retirement from international cricket on June 10 at the age of 29.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Royal Desert Champions team meet and jersey reveal event at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City, Pooran dismissed rumours of an international comeback and revealed that franchise cricket remains his primary focus for now.

"Nah man, for now it's just franchise cricket," Pooran told Mr Cricket UAE on the sidelines of the event.

Pooran has been part of five title-winning campaigns in the Abu Dhabi T10 and believes that experience could give Royal Desert Champions an advantage heading into the upcoming season.

"Yeah, it definitely gives us an edge. Myself and Robin [Singh], along with numerous players in this team, have been part of title-winning seasons. We are looking forward to leaning on those experiences and hopefully we can be successful this season as well. But step by step, we're trying to qualify first and then we'll take it from there," said Pooran.

The Abu Dhabi T10 is the shortest format of the game and heavily favours batters, with flat pitches and an attacking approach encouraged from the very first ball. However, bowlers can still build pressure by stringing together dot deliveries.

The former West Indies captain, though, has no issue with bowlers enjoying periods of dominance in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

"It's fine," Pooran said when asked about the pressure on batters in the T10 format. "Bowlers are allowed to bowl well! In T10, batsmen are usually exceptional, so when a bowler bowls well, you want to accept it and be happy for him as well."