Lucknow Super Giants captain Nicholas Pooran’s cricket career almost ended at age of 19 after scary car crash

Lucknow Super Giants named Nicholas Pooran as their captain for the IPL 2024 game against Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday.

Pooran, who walked out for the toss on Saturday, took the reins for the side instead of KL Rahul, who was named in the XI.

“KL Rahul is playing as an impact player,” Pooran informed at the toss. The West Indian star said Rahul was being eased into his return, following an injury that put him out of action for two months. Rahul is returning from a quadriceps injury. But he was in the LSG team in the game against Rajasthan Royals last Sunday, scoring a 44-ball 58.

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Pooran has had a remarkable cricketing journey so far. But his career almost ended when he was just 19 years of age, when he was involved in a serious car crash a decade ago.

“I was coming back home from training, driving. I was close to home and a car was overtaking another car, so I pulled away. I hit a sand heap and then I came back onto the road and another vehicle hit me,” Pooran recalled to ESPNCricinfo.

“I was knocked out and then I couldn’t remember what happened. I just woke up at the accident and I was like, ‘How did this happen?’ I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that this happened. I was taken in an ambulance, couldn’t move my legs. My left patellar tendon had ruptured and I had a fractured right ankle. I couldn’t straighten my leg. At first, I didn’t really know what happened. I wasn’t too sure. People kept telling me, ‘Move your toes, move your toes!’ I knew I couldn’t move my knee, so I knew something’s definitely wrong.”

Pooran underwent two surgeries and it took many months of rehab for him to get mobile on his feet again.

What Nicholas Pooran told Rishabh Pant

Pooran revealed he had been talking to Rishabh Pant after the Indian wicketkeeper’s own near-fatal car crash.

“I have been chatting with Rishabh obviously. Both of us have a really good relationship. But there are times when you go into a place where you’re very depressed, and frustrated, because you want the healing process to happen so fast. But it’s difficult,” Pooran had said last year.

“Sometimes you don’t see progress. In life, you want to see progress, you want it to happen so fast, but it doesn’t happen the whole time. It’s very challenging, but need to believe in yourself.”

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