Rowley: I'm not in a position to influence Narine

“If a person has retired, to try to get them to come out of retirement is an assignment.”

These were the thoughts of PM Keith Rowley during a post-Cabinet briefing on April 18 when asked about calls for Sunil Narine to come of retirement for the upcoming T20 cricket World Cup in June in the Caribbean and the US.

Narine has been in immaculate form with the bat thus far in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), scoring 276 runs in six innings and taking seven wickets for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

On April 14, former West Indies (WI) cricketer and now commentator Samuel Badree, asked Narine about the possibility of him coming out of retirement for the World Cup.

Narine said, “I will be watching from home, Badree.”

Two days later, after Narine scored his maiden T20 century, he appeared to soften his decision saying, “It is what it is, but we'll have to see what the future holds.”

When Rowley was asked if he would try to influence Narine’s decision, he said, “I'm not in a position to influence Narine on that. I will go as far as to say, I'd like to see the best team out on the field and if Narine is on that team, I will not have any arguments. If he comes out of retirement, as a commitment to WI cricket that will be great.”

These comments follow WI T20 captain Rovman Powell and TT Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath who have been trying to lure Narine back in the maroon colours for one last tournament.

Bassarath said, “It is my intention to give him a shout and if I have to beg him to come back and make himself available to play in this tournament. Because this is what the people need.”