Sunil Narine has been an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders setup for several years. He has been one of the best players in the history of the Indian Premier League. The crafty spinner has fooled hitters with his constant variations while collecting 124 wickets in the IPL. Narine’s role in the KKR setup expanded when she began opening tickets for the franchise. Despite lacking the consistency, Narine has been able to provide some explosive starts early in innings.
However, at IPL 2020, Narine has been unable to get going with the bat for KKR. He has opened the entrances together with Shubman Gill, but has not been able to replicate his previous exploits. His strike rate is just 87.09 while he’s averaging a lousy 6.75 in the tournament so far. So is Narine likely to reopen for KKR? Captain Dinesh Karthik has said that they will discuss his role soon.
“I haven’t thought about it (making the change at the top) but maybe after this game I’ll sit down with the coaching staff… We still believe in Narine and every time he gets going he gives us a great start. Karthik said.
After losing 18 runs to Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday, Karthik also said the team wants to give star player Andre Russell more time in the middle to maximize impact on the game.
Russell, who was coming ahead of Eoin Morgan, couldn’t make a mark when he scored 13 eight-ball runs.
“The way the guys hit is something I’m proud of. We keep fighting, which is the nature of this team. To be honest, a couple more sixes and we would have crossed the line. So there’s not much to blame on the bowlers, ”said Karthik during the post-match presentation on host broadcaster Star Sports.
“Maybe 10 more runs, but two more hits and we could have passed. We want to give Russell more time to make an impact on the game, ”he added.
KKR will face Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.
(with ANI inputs)
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