Southampton [UK], June 11 (ANI): West Indies white-ball head coach Daren Sammy broke silence on star batter Nicholas Pooran's retirement from international cricket, saying that 'more will follow in that direction' and his instincts told him that 'something like that would happen'.

Pooran's decision comes days after he requested Cricket West Indies not to consider him for their ongoing white-ball tour of England.

With over eight months left before the T20 World Cup 2026 kicks off in India and Sri Lanka, Pooran's decision serves as a massive setback for the 2016 winners. Since bursting onto the international scene in 2016, Pooran featured in 106 T20Is and 61 ODIs, garnering more than 4,258 runs across both formats.

He mustered up 2,275 in the shortest format of cricket, averaging 26.14 at 136.39. While in the 50-over cricket, he tallied 1,983 runs at 39.66 while maintaining a strike rate of 99.15, laced with three centuries and 11 fifties.

Speaking as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Sammy said after 0-3 loss to England in T20Is, 'My instincts told me something like that would happen. Nicholas sent me a text message, and so did I had a conversation with his agent as well... When we first spoke about the UK tour and the conversation I had with him, I did ask him, 'Are you unavailable for the UK tour only, or indefinitely?' And from that response, I just knew I had to start preparing for the worst case.'

'Ideally, a talent like that, I would love to have him in the team. But I do not control, nor could I control anybody's careers... I wished him well, and he wished the team well. It is about trying to move on now from planning a game plan without Nicholas Pooran. With a World Cup coming ahead, I respect the fact that he told us early enough so we have more time to plan without him,' he added.

Sammy also said he is not surprised about Pooran's retirement and spoke to his team about his own pride in representing the WI crest during a team meeting.

'I said something to the guys in the team meeting today: we do not have control. It is up to each individual. I made my debut in 2004 right at this ground, and I see here today in the stands the same people from 2004 - 21 years ago - the same fans: loyal, coming, bringing food, and everything they have been doing that way before I started, for Sir Viv [Richards] and these guys,' he said.

'The passion they (fans) have travelling from London, all over, coming to watch us playing - not because we are great, [but] because of the love they have for the game and for West Indies cricket; what it meant to them when West Indies came here back in the 80s with Sir Viv and Clive [Lloyd], and they won games; the feeling it gave them during that era, walking down the streets, going to work the following day.'

'It is up to us, each individual, to understand what the brand and the crest means, and come out and play a brand that those people come and travel three hours to watch you play because of what the crest means to them. It is up to each player to go out and put in that type of passion out there. I could only speak about it, but I cannot force anybody to do it, just like I cannot tell anybody when to call time on their career,' he concluded his point.

Sammy predicted that other players could follow Pooran's direction early in their careers, using the example of two South African stars, Heinrich Klaasen and Quinton de Kock, who moved on from the international game in favour of leagues in their early 30s, with Klaasen being the most recent one at the age of 33.

'I am pretty sure more will follow in that mood, in that direction. That is the way T20 cricket is now, and especially coming from the West Indies, with the challenges that we face trying to keep our players motivated to play for the crest, so I wouldn't be surprised. You saw everybody talk about Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, these guys who have retired. It is out of our control,' he added.

Windies struggled in the white-ball series against England in the absence of Pooran, while they will return for a three-match series against Ireland starting from Thursday. His key concern his team's bowling, which leaked 628 runs in 58.3 overs during the England T20Is, including 248 of them at Southampton.

'It is a question of skills. When being put under pressure, do we have the skillset to be disciplined with our plans? Do we back our ability long enough? Especially from a bowling point of view, we have been trying to search: how do we restrict things when they put us under the pump? [...] It is a conversation with a World Cup in less than eight months: how do we get our bowling right?,' he said.

Sammy noted that while batters are more consistent, they cannot be made to chase high-200s all the time.

'And then when we set 190 or 200, our bowling has yet to defend it. But I am a very positive guy... We have enough time and games to put a combination together that could help us be successful,' he concluded. (ANI)