Of the 26 balls he has faced so far this IPL, none of them were bowled on a full length. Despite being ahead for most of the Test, the Indian batting order bowed down to the Australia pace attack on Day 3, getting bowled out for 36 (with Mohammed Shami getting injured). India vs Australia: Rishabh Pant was hailed as the hero of India's win at Gabba after scoring an unbeaten 89. “No is the short answer,” said former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris on Wednesday’s pre-match show when asked whether KKR should persist with Narine at the top. But once they figured it out, Narine's success has come down drastically. “Unless you drop Sunil and play Tom Banton which is a different conversation altogether.” Nitish Rana? With time, Opposition teams have figured out Narine's weakness against pace bowling - high speeds (140+ kph) and holding the length back. The Narine-Lynn pair was idiosyncratic in the sense that Narine was a proficient hitter of spin while Lynn struggled against spin and was much better versus pace. Asked at the post-match presentation whether Wednesday’s 37-run win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) was a perfect game for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), skipper Dinesh Karthik said: “I wouldn’t call it that. As teams pepper Narine with short balls --- he averaged 7.46 against rising deliveries going into Wednesday’s match, according to ESPNcricinfo --- Cricviz data shows his dot-ball percentage climbed from 39.6% in IPL 2018 to 69.2% this term. His strike rate dips considerably against the above two aspects, leading to his dismissal. “We haven’t seen how Nitish Rana will fare as opener either,” said Dasgupta. Opener Narine took seven balls to get off the mark and that happened only because former teammate Robin Uthappa dropped a dolly. Their home ground, the Eden Gardens, was slowly changing from a spinner's paradise to a flat deck where high totals were a norm than just an exception. In IPL 2017, in his very first stint as opener, Narine struck 37 off 18 balls, while sharing a 76-run opening stand with Gambhir against Kings XI Punjab. According to ESPNcricinfo prior to Wednesday, opener Narine’s innings lasted an average of 11 balls, when he was out for less than 10 it is five. Though Sunil Narine has done well as an opener for KKR in few IPL matches, he cannot be termed as a specialist opener. It took a while for the opposition sides to figure out what exactly worked to his advantage. In the T20s outside of IPL, he managed to strike at only 138, with a balls to boundary ratio of 4.1. Sunil Narine starred with the ball for KKR on Saturday as he defended 14 runs off the final over to help his team stun Kings XI Punjab by 2 runs in Match 24 of IPL 2020 in Abu Dhabi. In the first match the duo opened together, they hit 105/0 in the Powerplay against RCB in Bengaluru - the most runs scored in the first six overs in the tournament's history. Used as an opener for the first time by KKR against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017, Narine hasn’t had a half-century in the competition since May 2018 when he hit a 36-ball 75. The average IPL match performance of Narine the opener is 21 runs off 11 balls and Narine the bowler is figures of 1 for 26 in 3.5 overs. Find out more in our, Sri Lanka chip away despite Root's hundred, Root leads England's riposte with century, Bangladesh primed for cleansweep against rattled West Indies, Live Cricket Score - Sri Lanka v England, Galle, 2nd Test, Day 3, Deonarine among 44 USA players listed to audition for Oman tour, After coach's resignation, Mumbai selector Ankola seeks permission to pick Vijay Hazare probables. Having swung and missed twice to Jofra Archer in the first over and denied space to execute the pull by Ankit Rajpoot twice more in the second, Narine finally got a run in the fifth ball of the third over just as RR skipper Steve Smith was getting ready to celebrate KKR’s first wicket. He has opened the innings along with Shubman Gill but has failed to replicate his earlier exploits. Used as an opener for the first time by KKR against Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2017, Narine hasn’t had a half-century in the competition since May 2018 when he hit a 36-ball 75. Anuj Nitin Prabhu FOLLOW Kevin Pietersen first took to Twitter to and said Rahul Dravid’s email had changed his game against spin-bowling. Narine's numbers as an opener in the IPL has taken a dip since the start of 2019, precisely because of the above factors. KKR sought to make up for Russell's big hitting in the death overs by maximizing the Powerplay overs and brought in Chris Lynn, who was with the franchise for three years, but had played just a handful of games without much success. South Africa Women v Pakistan Women, 2021, In the three matches that Narine opened with Gill in the IPL 2020, he has compiled just 24 runs off 26 balls and at a strike rate of 92.30 © BCCI, © 2021 Cricbuzz.com, Times Internet Limited. “The no complicated batting style of Narine makes things easy for us,” Karthik had said referring to KKR’s new opening pair of Shubman Gill and Narine. Thank you for subscribing to our daily newsletter. Instead, it is their overseas mystery spinner, Sunil Narine. After Narine fell, commentator Mark Nicholas said on air that a team’s best players should get to face the maximum deliveries. KKR lost Sunil Narine in the second over for zero and SRH were very much in the game when Nitish Rana perished in the fifth over. In the three matches that Narine opened with Gill in the IPL 2020, he has compiled just 24 runs off 26 balls at a strike rate of 92.30, and he hasn't faced a singe ball from the spinners. Where is Sunil Narine? Narine delivered often in the season and kept his spot at the top of the order, adding another bow to his illustrious CV in the T20 circuit. KKR has to take this fact into account and use him at the top more judiciously for the simple fact that when he comes off, it can put the opposition on the backfoot for the rest of the innings. In his last eight IPL games, he hasn't crossed 25 even once. Narine’s strike rate as a bowler in 2020 CPL was 20 and economy rate 4.55, both second-best for champions Trinbago Knight Riders. This was prior to the start of IPL 13. (IPL 2020 Full Coverage), Also read: RCB vs RR Preview: Battle between two well-oiled batting units. Sunil Narine failed for the third consecutive game in the RR vs KKR in the Dream11 IPL 2020 Match 12. It was a quiet welcome as the youngster returned home to Mohali with the country still celebrating the 2-1 comeback victory. Sunil Narine career stats. 25-09-2020. The Narine career stats make for a staggering read. India off-spinner R Ashwin explained why the Indian cricketers were against going under another round of strict quarantine before the Brisbane Test. IPL 2020: Sunil Narine is opening the batting way too often, says Brad Hogg Brad Hogg believes Sunil Narine must be used as a surprise batting option by KKR. Among the central talking points of the first innings is Tripathi’s promotion up the order, from number 8 in the previous match, to opener. From succeeding once in four-five innings, the success rate has come down to one in every nine-ten innings. On his latest video on Youtube, Hogg was asked by fan if India should consider including Pant in the limited-overs series against England which begins next month. Sunil Narine’s batting in the powerplay threw opponents off gear for quite a while after the Kolkata Knight Riders first adopted the strategy in 2017. I think there are a lot of areas we can definitely improve.”, Sunil Narine’s batting would be one of them. Changed my game!” he wrote. KKR's management then thought out of the box and promoted Sunil Narine to the opening slot, considering his hitting prowess against spin and the ability to hit inside-out with the field restrictions around. Tripathi, playing just his second match of the season, impressed yet again. Get free access to newsletters, alerts and recommendations. He is one of only two bowlers to bowl more than 400 overs while conceding runs at less than seven per over, and he has achieved this economy rate while maintaining a … The question was asked in both innings when the Kolkata Knight Riders took on the Chennai Super Kings. Between that 75 and till he hit two successive half-centuries in the 2020 Caribbean Premier League, Narine crossed 30 just four times across all leagues. Within the Powerplay, Narine's strength was hitting the spinners. Copyright © HT Digital Streams Ltd. All rights reserved. Sunil Narine the opener in focus as Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad look for first points Shashank Kishore. We have already seen in the ongoing tournament that when teams play just five bowlers, the attack would have less flexibility (for instance, CSK have played just five bowlers, and 22 off the 24 overs from the spinners have come in the middle overs, despite them conceding at 10.09 per over). New Year’s Day, 2017. In 33 innings he opened in the IPL until the 2019 edition, he scored at 185 runs per 100 balls, hitting a boundary every 2.8 balls in the Powerplay overs. The Kolkata all-rounder has played 120 IPL matches, having bagged 127 wickets and scored 892 runs. Coming back to the IPL in 2017, Narine kept his place as an opener when Lynn returned towards the end of the season, with Gautam Gambhir dropping to one down. In the chances that he has got, Maxwell has not been able to replicate his limited-overs exploits in Test cricket, playing the last of his seven Tests in Bangladesh in 2017. India off-spinner R Ashwin in his YouTube conversation with fielding coach R Sridhar added another chapter to off the field incidents in Australia by revealing that Indian cricketers were not allowed to enter the lift in Sydney if any member of the Australian squad was already inside it. He continued to open the innings for teams in various other franchises, but couldn't quite replicate the hitting form which he displayed in the IPL, despite him facing similar number of balls on an average per every innings. But KKR endured another setback when Lynn suffered from a shoulder injury after two games into the season that ruled him out for a sizeable number of games. From seven innings with a strike rate of 200 or more in IPL 2018 (counting only scores of over 20), Narine managed that twice in 2019 where he was not used as opener in the last four games. Image: Sportzpics for BCCI Image: Sportzpics for BCCI "The Committee also noted that Mr. Narine should reproduce the same action going forward in the IPL 2020 matches as presented to the Committee in the video footage." 'Fortunate to play against these guys': Kane Williamson reacts after beating Steve Smith and Virat Kohli to becoming No.1 batsman in Tests The move paid immediate dividend when Lynn hit an unbeaten 93 off 41 balls in a ten-wicket win against Gujarat Lions. Dasgupta also said barring Siddesh Lad and Rahul Tripathi, there may not be anyone taking Narine’s place. 04/10/2020 . “You can’t take him seriously as a batsman. Incidentally, Lynn was known for his big hitting exploits for Brisbane Heat in the BBL. Narine then had a 4-6-4 routine in the next six balls he faced before Jaydev Unadkat knocked his stumps off. Also read: MS Dhoni demands ‘professionalism’ from CSK team. On a batting belter, KKR posted a mammoth 245 for 6, their highest ever total and fourth-highest in the history of the league. Hindsight has shown they got him for a steal for he would have been worth more for his bowling alone. When Sunil Narine was bought for US$ 700,000 in the 2012 IPL auction, it felt like Kolkata Knight Riders had overpaid for a player who was, till then, only a promising talent. KKR next play Delhi Capitals at Sharjah on Saturday and they would be tempted to give Narine one more go at the top of the order with short, straight boundaries coming into play. Narine delivered often in the season and kept his spot at the top of the order, adding another bow to his illustrious CV in the T20 circuit. He has played 347 matches in the format picking up 390 wickets at an economy of only 6.04 runs. On Tuesday, Australia's fortress -- The Gabba -- was finally breached. RCB vs RR Preview: Battle between two well-oiled batting units, MS Dhoni demands ‘professionalism’ from CSK team, 'Core is still there': Gambhir points out 'difference between KKR and RCB', Ashwin recalls what irked Indian cricketers before Brisbane Test, Ravindra Jadeja reveals dressing room discussion after Adelaide loss, Hogg suggests Pant should replace Iyer, Samson in limited-overs series, ‘See you soon’: England all-rounder Ben Stokes heads to India ahead of series, Pietersen wants ECB to 'print' Dravid's email and give it to young Eng batsmen, When Australian players were inside, we were not allowed to use the lift: Ashwin, Want to be best keeper-batsman: Raina recalls Pant's words at training, England vs Sri Lanka: Root notches 19th test century in Galle, 'I stand nowhere near it': Glenn Maxwell on Test return, Six Indian cricketers gifted THAR-SUV by Anand Mahindra, Greg Chappell explains why he's 'not surprised' with Team India's win Down Under, South Africa enter the unknown in first test against Pakistan. He has scored only 24 runs so far “I don’t see a flipside to this,” the former India wicket-keeper and Bengal captain said over phone from UAE where he is an IPL commentator. Narine won the MVP award for the season for his exploits at the top of the order and his 17 wickets with his spin bowling. Narine as opener in IPL - With & without Lynn. In three games since, Narine has scored 9 (10 balls), 0 (2) and 15 (14). TRIPATHI SHINES AS OPENER. The 'surprise' factor was the key point behind Narine's initial success as an opener. Visit IPLT20.com the official IPLT20 website for minute-to-minute LIVE updates. Kolkata Knight Riders were dealt a killer blow ahead of their 2017 IPL campaign when Andre Russell was suspended for a year as a result of whereabouts clause violation. A column for Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell said that he doesn ’ t open, bats. Stars are taking on Aaron Finch ’ s batting only if it affects his confidence a... 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