Sunil Narine has been an integral part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ set-up for several years. He has been one of the top performing players in Indian Premier League history. The wily spinner has bamboozled batsmen with his constant variations while picking up 124 wickets in the IPL. Narine’s role in the KKR set-up expanded when he started to open the innings for the franchise. Even though he hasn’t got the consistency, Narine has been able to provide some explosive starts at the start of the innings.
However, in IPL 2020, Narine has failed to get going with the bat for KKR. He has opened the innings along with Shubman Gill but has failed to replicate his earlier exploits. His strike-rate is just 87.09 while averaging a dismal 6.75 in the tournament so far. So is Narine likely to open for KKR again? Captain Dinesh Karthik has said they will discuss his role soon.
“I haven’t thought about it (making the change at the top) but maybe after this game I will sit down with the coaching staff… We still believe in Narine and whenever he gets going he gets us off to a great start,” said Karthik.
After losing by 18 runs to Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday, Karthik also said the side wants to give star player Andre Russell more time in the middle to maximise the impact on the game.
Russell, who came ahead of Eoin Morgan, failed to leave a mark as he scored 13 runs off eight balls.
“The way the boys batted is something I am proud of. We kept fighting, which is the nature of this team. To be honest, a couple more sixes, and we would have crossed the line. So not much to fault the bowlers for,” said Karthik during the post-match presentation via host broadcaster Star Sports.
“Perhaps 10 runs too many, but two more hits and we might have been through. We want to give Russell more time to make an impact on the game,” he added.
KKR will next lock horns with Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.
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