It's the first week of 2015.

A spunky 19-year old has just finished his training

with the Trinidad & Tobago team. He's in the spotlight after a remarkable Under-19
World Cup in the UAE, and he's preparing for his first full season as a first-class
player.

He's driving home from the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, probably wondering
what the future holds for him. He's almost reached home, but he sees the two cars
in front of him trying to overtake each other. Forced to hit the brakes, he loses
control of the car. He smashes into a sand heap on the side of the road, and then
he's pummelled by a car just behind him. He's unconscious.

Ambulances rush in. He regains consciousness in the hospital, where the doctors ask
him to move his toes. He tries, but his toes don't move. Neither do his knees. This
is when reality hits him - he may never play cricket again. Welcome to Nicholas
Pooran's world.

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Four years and two surgeries later, Pooran is back where he's supposed to be - in
West Indian colours, now touring India. Between then and now, the left-handed
wicketkeeper-batsman has swiftly become a regular for T20 franchises worldwide.
He's been part of the Mumbai Indians squad, he's represented Islamabad United in
the PSL, turned out for Khulna Titans in the BPL, and has even found a spot at City
Kaitak in the Hong Kong T20 blitz.

Despite all that, Sunday night's game is only his fifth T20I for West Indies, and
when he walks out on a cool Sunday night at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, he might
just be playing for his place. His first four T20I innings, spread over more than
two years, have brought him a top score of just 16. This may be his last chance,
with other middle-order batsmen breathing down his neck to break into the side.

West Indies are 94 for 3 in 12.5 overs. They have a decent platform, but there is
no guarantee they will build on it, given the batting disappointments of the first
two T20Is in Kolkata and Lucknow. With a little over seven overs to go, Pooran has
all to play for.

His first boundary, a flashy square-cut, beats the infield and moves West Indies
past the 100 mark. Thereon, with Darren Bravo for company, Pooran throws caution to
the winds. He welcomes Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return to the attack, for a third over,
with back-to-back sixes that bring the Chennai crowd to its feet. This crowd wants
a good game of cricket. Too often on this tour, games have been one-sided. Pooran
ensures the crowd will get their money's worth even if India are to win tonight's
game.

He's swiftly moved on to 21 off 12, and Rohit reintroduces spin. Surely this can
stop the onslaught? "Not tonight", is what Pooran probably mutters under his
breath. Tonight is Pooran's chance to show the world what he's made of. He switch-
hits Yuzvendra Chahal for six off the first ball of the 17th, swatting it right
over square leg.

Nicholas Pooran executes a switch-hit Associated Press

At 31 off 16, with three overs to go, Pooran has his sights set on a maiden
international half-century. But Bravo's getting bogged down by some good death
bowling by Khaleel Ahmed and Bhuvneshwar, and he faces the bulk of the 18th and
19th overs.

By the time the final over begins, Pooran still needs 12 to get to his fifty. He
gets the strike with five balls remaining. The first of them is a dot, a slower
ball he fails to connect with. Can he do it?

You bet. With four to go, Pooran slaps Khaleel over extra-cover. The crowd don't
mind. The more West Indies score, the more they can see of India's batting stars.
Khaleel goes short for the next delivery, and Pooran's already on the back foot to
thumps a pulled six. He follows that with a reverse-sweep to reach his maiden fifty
off just 24 balls. The final delivery is bunted into the covers, and Pooran's added
53 in a 43-ball partnership of 87. West Indies post 181 and it's game on for the
first time in this series.

Sure, it isn't all rosy in the end for West Indies. On a surface with true bounce,
Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant smoke the ball to all parts and ensure an India
whitewash. But unlike their counterparts in Kolkata and Lucknow, the spectators in
Chennai have left satisfied after 40 overs of cricket.

And they have appreciated Pooran's inventive batting, reveling as much in his
switch-hit as they do in Pant's pull, applauding his half-century almost as loudly
as they do Dhawan's.

On the last game of West Indies' tour, Pooran has left an indelible mark. It's the
last impression that often counts. And with the IPL auction just five weeks away,
Pooran couldn't have chosen a better time and place to make that impression.