Yorkshire Vikings sign Nicholas Pooran for Vitality Blast 2020

Yorkshire Vikings on Wednesday announced the signing of West Indies' batsman Nicholas Pooran for the next year's Vitality Blast.

The 24-year-old Pooran played three of a planned five fixtures in 2019 and he will be available for the majority of the tournament next year, subject to international commitments.

"I am very happy to be returning to Headingley for next season's T20 Blast. I really enjoyed my short stint there after the World Cup and feel I have a bit of unfinished business with the weather winning in a couple of the games I was scheduled to play in 2019. I look forward to catching up with my team-mates in 2020," Pooran said in an official statement.

The left-handed Pooran has scored 2278 runs from 119 T20 matches at an average of 24.49, including 12 fifties. He recently played a knock of 67 runs off just 28 balls in Vitality Blast against Leicestershire Foxes.

While playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), he guided the side to a perfect start by winning all the club's group-stage matches.

On the international stage, Pooran's most notable knocks include his 63 runs against England and a hundred against Sri Lanka.

"We all got a glimpse of what a special player he is (last season); he is box office. In T20 cricket, you always look down the team sheet to see who can win you a game, and Pooran is a guy that can win you a game on his own. We brought Nicholas in for what we could afford last year. With more funds available, we wanted to bring somebody in for a longer period of time. To get him for a major chunk of the competition is a big plus for us. He fitted into the dressing room really well," Andrew Gale, the Yorkshire County Cricket Club's first XI coach.