Since his arrival in 2012, Sunil Narine has been a key cog in the Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI and is virtually undroppable. The Trinidad-born spinner has also established himself as a power-hitting batter, opening for KKR. Narine is the sixth-highest wicket-taker in IPL history with 181 wickets including seven four-wicket hauls and also a fifer.
He has also been the chief architect in three of KKR’s IPL title-winning seasons in 2012, 2014 and 2024.
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‘He was ahead of his time’: Kuldeep Yadav
Speaking on JioHotstar, India’s Kuldeep Yadav hailed the influence of Narine and put him in the same category as Jasprit Bumrah.
“The IPL is very tough for bowlers—it’s highly competitive. You may pick up wickets, but you can’t always expect to maintain an economy of just 6 or 7 runs per over. It’s a challenging format with high-quality players. As a bowler, you must aim to dominate,” he said.
“Players like Jasprit Bumrah and Sunil Narine have done that consistently. I learned a lot from Sunil Narine when I was with KKR—he was ahead of his time. He always emphasised the importance of bowling length. Back then, I believed I could rely solely on my skills, but now I realise he was absolutely right. Since returning from injury, I’ve focused a lot on my length, and that has made a significant difference,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Players like Jasprit Bumrah and Sunil Narine have done that consistently. I learned a lot from Sunil Narine when I was with KKR—he was ahead of his time. He always emphasised the importance of bowling length. Back then, I believed I could rely solely on my skills, but now I realise he was absolutely right. Since returning from injury, I’ve focused a lot on my length, and that has made a significant difference,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Narine missed KKR’s previous vs RR as he was reportedly unwell. He has resumed training and is expected to be back in the playing XI in their upcoming match vs MI. He trained with the rest of the squad on Sunday, and was also part of a football game, before bowling in the nets with Varun Chakaravarthy. KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit also revealed that Narine is fit and has begun training.
Against RR, Narine was replaced by Moeen Ali. The England cricketer revealed after the match, “ got told this morning that Sunny [Narine] was not well and to just be ready whenever. Obviously, hard to replace Sunny but I felt like I did a nice job of it.”