More sincere but equally complex perhaps is the relationship KKR has forged with Sunil Narine that nudges the franchise into persisting with him. There have been more ups than downs, but with fitness slowly becoming an overarching concern — Sunil Narine giving up on even trying to return to his crease on Saturday being a case in point — KKR could be forced to think otherwise someday. But as long as Sunil Narine keeps bowling like he did on Saturday, trust KKR to keep deferring that thought.
Averaging 4.75 without conceding a boundary in a slugfest that produced 412 runs is no mean feat. But this is not new. Interesting is how Sunil Narine keeps doing this in his 13th season on the trot when data analysis and innovative batting threatens to sort out even the most mysterious bowler. Which is not the case with Sunil Narine as once presumed because he basically is an off-break bowler.
Sunil Narine and his stint with illegal bowling action controversies
Sunil Narine, who has played for KKR since 2012, has struggled with a suspect bowling action in the past, first missing the final of the 2014 Champions League T20 after his arm was found to be bending more than the permissible 15 degrees. A year later, he was suspended from bowling in international cricket. He was cleared for bowling in all formats of domestic and international cricket in 2016.
His bowling action was reported again during the 2018 Pakistan Super League and then again midway through the 2020 Indian Premier League. He was cleared soon after on both occasions, remodeling his bowling action. A regular in T20 franchise cricket, Sunil Narine last played for the West Indies in 2019 and announced his international retirement last year.
It’s his stifling lines though that tend to keep batters on their toes even when the fielding restrictions are on. Which is also why KKR have made Sunil Narine open the bowling. He has also bowled in the death but has been most successful in the middle overs where his economy is 5.87.
Sunil Narine’s miser spell turns the game on KKR’s side
It’s also a typical Gautam Gambhir move, using Sunil Narine in the middle overs to arrest the momentum of the innings, not only by drying up the runs but facilitating dismissals. When Sunil Narine came on in the seventh over, Sunrisers Hyderabad were ahead of the asking rate of 10.28.
A two-run over from Sunil Narine meant Sunrisers were immediately seeking a boundary to release the built-up pressure. First ball the following over Russell was hacked wide of deep third for a four but next ball he got Abhishek Sharma. Another quiet over and Suyash Sharma almost got a breakthrough off his own bowling.
Had KKR reviewed a leg-before appeal, Sunil Narine wouldn’t have had to wait till his last over to dismiss Rahul Tripathi. But by keeping at it, Sunil Narine ensured Aiden Markram caved in to Varun Chakravarthy in the next over. There wasn’t much turn as this wasn’t a typical summer pitch at Eden, with low and slow bounce, but Sunil Narine kept varying his speed and length. “I think it’s simply that the batters find him difficult to pick,” Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori said later at the press conference. “
“In the night, with the ball getting older and darker, you can’t premeditate, predict what he is going to bowl because of those variations. He has good pace, is incredibly accurate and asks questions all the time,”
That spell of 4-0-19-1 again highlights how Sunil Narine continues to be basic but effective in an age where the bowler needs to innovate to stay ahead of the batter. Accuracy, pace and two-three spin variations are the ingredients he started out with in 2012 and pretty much stuck to till now. Factor in the progression of a career in which the economy of the first three seasons never went beyond 6.35 and Sunil Narine still retains pretty much the same intensity despite a bowling action correction.
This makes him the all-season bowler KKR would be happy to retain again and again. However his bowling action again raised eyebrows for former New Zealand bowler Simon Doull to speak about the same openly complaining the bowling action.
Sunil Narine has remolded his action a touch- Simon Doull
Sunil Narine was the game-changer in KKR’s nervy four-run win against SRH on Saturday, conceding 1-19 in his four overs. In a game where over 400 runs were scored and every other bowler had an economy rate of at least eight, Sunil Narine did not concede a single boundary in the game and his spell was crucial in the end as KKR defended 208 in the last over.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Doull suggested Narine has gone back to his previous bowling action, with less scrutiny on him in franchise cricket than there would be internationally. Speaking on Cricbuzz, Simon Doull said :
“Brilliant from Narine [his spell against SRH]. He assesses situations. He had a little bit of time when he got called for throwing. He was under the pump a little bit, he has remodeled his action a touch. He knows now, not playing international cricket, I think he knows he’s not going to be called anymore,” said Doull.
He added:
“He knows that’s not a problem for him, so he’s probably gone back a little bit to the old action in some way, shape or form. He’s actually getting more purchase. He was one of the few that actually got a little bit of assistance out of the track tonight,”
Sunil Narine’s spell was the difference between the sides as KKR eked out a four-run win to start their campaign. In a high-scoring contest with over 400 runs scored, the West Indian spinner did not concede a single boundary in his spell. KKR will now play their next match with RCB on 29th March 2023.