Why Nicholas Pooran's 137*(55) in MLC 2023 will not be considered in his T20 records
Nicholas Pooran played probably the best knock of his career in the Major League Cricket 2023 final. Captaining MI New York against the Seattle Orcas, Pooran blasted an unbeaten 137 off just 55 deliveries to help his franchise become the inaugural MLC champions.
However, Nicholas Pooran's highest score in T20 cricket will remain 100. The 137-run knock played by him in the MLC final will not be added to his T20 career records because MLC is a league played the USA, which is an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Although ICC have sanctioned this league, none of its matches had T20 status, and are instead considered under 'other' matches. Hence, Pooran's T20 career records will still show only one century, which he scored for the Guyana Amazon Warriors against the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in a league match of the Caribbean Premier League 2020.
It is pertinent to note that UAE's Abu Dhabi T10 League and International League T20 also have 'other' status for all their matches despite being ICC-sanctioned leagues. Even the ongoing Global T20 Canada tournament falls into that category.
Nicholas Pooran may return to T20I cricket soon in India vs West Indies series
After a magnificent century in the Major League Cricket final, Nicholas Pooran will now return to the West Indies and gear up for the upcoming five-match series against India. The wicketkeeper batter missed out on the ongoing ODI series between the two teams because of the MLC.
West Indies are yet to name their T20I squad for the upcoming five matches against India. However, it should not be a surprise if Pooran is selected. It will be exciting to see how the left-handed batter performs against the Men in Blue.