IPL 2023 Auction: The biggest problem is if you don’t leave him and he doesn’t perform – Harbhajan Singh on Nicholas Pooran

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh feels SunRisers Hyderabad will be in a dilemma if they should let go of their wicket-keeper batter Nicholas Pooran ahead of the upcoming IPL 2023 auction. Pooran had a good run in IPL 2022 for the Orange Army as he scored 306 runs in 13 innings at an average of 38.25 and a strike rate of 144.33.

However, Pooran could not lead West Indies from the front in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. In fact, the two-time champions could not even go past the Group stage to qualify for the Super 12 stage.

Pooran could only score 25 runs in three matches at an average of 8.33 and a strike rate of 86.20. On the other hand, Pooran was bought for a whopping price of INR 10.75 crores by SRH in IPL 2022 auction.

Harbhajan Singh said on Star Sports, “The reputation with which Nicholas Pooran comes of playing the big shots, it will be a problem if you leave him and don’t get a player like him. The biggest problem is if you don’t leave him and he doesn’t perform. They will have to move away from names and slightly towards the deeds.”

“He is someone you might want to leave, but you might feel that if you leave him you might not get a player like him. There is a hope that he can hit sixes, he can do Kieron Pollard’s job here. You will have to either motivate him so that he performs or ask him what his intention is.”

On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes Nicholas Pooran is a hot property and he shouldn’t be released by the franchise ahead of the auction.

“I don’t think they should release him. Nicholas Pooran is hot property. He is a left-handed batter who can change the game in the middle order. Definitely, his performance has not been that good but with the potential he has, anything can happen if you put him into the auction, he might go more expensive.”

“You might not be able to get him back, so you don’t want to miss out. If you see last year, Markram scored runs in the middle order. Later Nicholas Pooran also batted well and scored runs. Only Kane Williamson was the one whose bat didn’t fire that much. If he is retained and his bat fires, this team will look much better.”

IPL 2023 Auction will take place on 16th December in Bengaluru.