Narine: An offspinner to be feared

SUNIL Narine took the world of cricket by storm with his mysterious brand of bowling back in 2012, and has ever since been one of the most feared offspinners in T20 cricket. The Trinidadian, who was the #1 bowler in the world for a long time, joined TKR in 2016, and has consistently won matches for the side with both bat and ball.

In his early days, Sunil Philip Narine, from Arima, was wreaking havoc with his off-spin bowling, triggering whispers of ‘mystery’ from scribes who watched him on the field. The whispers soon turned to thunderous applause as he made it to West Indies’ One-Day International side in 2011 on their tour to India a few months after the World Cup.

Long-form cricket wasn’t Narine’s most suited forte, but he still managed 21 wickets in his six Test-appearances between 2012 and 2013. Ever since his debut, Narine has gone on to play 65 One-Day Internationals for the West Indies, picking up 92 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 4.12.

Batsmen are yet to figure him out completely, which makes him a vital cog in the ranks of any side he goes on to represent.

Like many of his counterparts in the Caribbean, Narine found his true calling in T20 cricket, where the batsmen don’t get enough time to adjust to his style of bowling, and are forced to make mistakes trying to negotiate his attack with counter-attack.

After helping Windies to a number of victories in T20Is, Narine went on to play for a number of sides around the world in franchise-based T20 cricket – from Trinbago Knight Riders and Kolkata Knight Riders to Barisal Burners, Comilla Victorians, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Lahore Qalandars, Melbourne Renegades, Montreal Tigers, Sydney Sixers, and Cape Cobras. In this year’s Indian Premier League, Narine even became the third overseas bowler to scalp 100 wickets in the history of the tournament.

But that’s Narine, the bowler. Over the past few years, the wily campaigner has improved his skills with the bat tremendously, and is currently touted as one of the most dangerous all-rounders in the sport.