West Indies’ explosive batter Nicholas Pooran left the cricketing world shocked on Tuesday (June 10) by announcing his retirement from international cricket at the age of 29.

Pooran’s sudden retirement call comes just days after he requested to be rested from the recently concluded white-ball series in England, following his commitments with the Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL 2025.

Pooran, who represented the West Indies in 61 ODIs and 106 T20Is, retired with just eight months remaining for the T20 World Cup 2026, which is set to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Reacting to Pooran’s retirement, West Indies head coach Daren Sammy emphasized the increasing difficulty of motivating players to represent their national teams and warned that more players might follow suit.

“My instincts told me something like that would happen," Sammy told ESPNCricinfo after West Indies’ sixth consecutive white-ball defeat on the England tour.

Sammy revealed that he had already begun planning for a future without Pooran following a previous conversation with the player.

“Ideally, a talent like that, I would love to have him in the team. But I don’t control nor could I control anybody’s careers… I wished him well, he wished the team well. It is (about) trying to move on now from planning a gameplan without Nicholas Pooran,” Sammy stated.

He added, “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."

Sammy, the two-time T20 World Cup winning skipper, highlighted the trend of early retirements in contemporary cricket and cautioned that more players could follow Pooran’s path.

“I’m pretty sure more will follow in that mood, in that direction," Sammy said. “That’s 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’ve retired. It’s out of our control," he remarked.

Pooran’s departure comes as the West Indies struggle on the field and face questions about player commitment. Sammy opened up about discussing the significance of playing for the West Indies during the team meeting before the Southampton T20I.

“Surprised? No, I’m not surprised. I said something to the guys in the team meeting today: we don’t have control. It’s up to 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 can’t force anybody to do it, just like I can’t tell anybody when to call time on their career," Sammy concluded.

(With PTI Inputs)