Chris Gayle claims Nicholas Pooran owes him money after WI star sold big at IPL auction

Nicholas Pooran on Friday raised many eyebrows in the cricketing world as he secured a million-dollar deal at IPL 2023 auction in Kochi. Pooran was bought by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for a whopping sum of Rs 16 crores to become the fourth-most expensive player at IPL 2023 auction. Only Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes received a better deal than Pooran at the auction on Friday. After the day-long event, West Indies legend Chris Gayle jokingly called on Pooran to return the money that he lend to him. 

"Nikki P, the money that I lend you, can I get it back please," Gayle jokingly said on JioCinema, the official broadcaster of the IPL 2023 auction. 

Pooran's IPL career

Pooran was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad setup in IPL 2022. he was bought by Hyderabad for Rs 10.75 crores. Pooran had joined the franchise from Punjab Kings, where he played under the captaincy of KL Rahul. Pooran will once again reunite with Rahul at Lucknow Super Giants as the Indian batter is the captain of the newly-added side. After the auction, LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir said that they bought Pooran because of his hard-hitting abilities and also as a backup wicketkeeper for Quinton de Kock. 

Pooran has played 47 matches in the IPL thus far and has scored 912 runs at an average of 26.06 and with a strike rate of 151.24. He has four half-centuries to his name. In the previous edition of the cash-rich tournament, Pooran played 14 matches and scored 306 runs at an average of 38.25 and with a strike rate of 144.34. Pooran's best season with the bat came in 2020 when he smashed 353 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 169.71. 

Image: IPL