West Indies star Nicholas Pooran to play for Yorkshire in the Vitality Blast after the World Cup

West Indies’ rising star Nicholas Pooran will stay on beyond the World Cup to play for Yorkshire in the Vitality Blast.

The destructive left-handed batsman, who lines up against England in Southampton on Friday, has agreed to feature in five group games between the World Cup final on July 14 and the Windies’ home Twenty20 series versus India, starting in Florida on August 3.

However, the 23-year-old’s short term-deal is dependent on him making three more appearances during this tournament as English domestic cricket’s regulations state overseas players must have either played one Test or earned 15 international caps over the preceding two years.

Pooran has a dozen to his name, having re-emerged last autumn to strike an unbeaten 53 off 25 balls against India – form he managed to extend into the star-studded T10 competition in the United Arab Emirates before Christmas when he out-blasted team-mate Chris Gayle et al by finishing as the leading run scorer with 324, hitting 33 sixes in a tournament in which only one other man, Andre Fletcher, managed 20.

His aggressive batting in the shortest format contributed to a maiden one-day international call-up in February and he was retained by West Indies for this World Cup after an impressive Indian Premier League spell at Kings XI Punjab.

With wicketkeeping his other suit, Pooran’s recruitment will provide Yorkshire with an opportunity to give Jonny Tattersall, who plays all formats, a break should they so wish.

Pooran has begun his first major global event positively, cracking an unbeaten 34 off just 19 deliveries to guide his team to a crushing seven-wicket win over Pakistan and following up with 40, again at better than a run a ball, against Australia.