Sunil Narine attributes his success as an opener for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2024 to keeping things simple and not fretting over his secondary role as a batsman. His humorous remarks followed Shreyas Iyer’s revelation that Narine tends to skip the batters’ team meetings. Narine’s resurgence as an opener has been instrumental in KKR’s strong start to the season.
Narine clinched the Player of the Match award for the 14th time in IPL history, owing to his remarkable batting display at the top order, which propelled KKR to a formidable total of 272 runs, the second-highest in IPL history. Displaying remarkable composure, Narine smashed 7 sixes and as many boundaries en route to his career-best IPL score of 85 off just 39 balls, leaving the Delhi Capitals’ bowlers in disarray.
With precision and calculated aggression, Narine targeted the pacers and even dispatched a bouncer from Ishant Sharma for a maximum. Despite facing just one over from Axar Patel, Delhi’s sole spinner, Narine made a significant impact with his bat, strategically choosing his moments to unleash his big shots.
When asked about his resurgence as an opener, Narine emphasized his commitment to contributing more with the bat while still enjoying his bowling. His role, he quipped, is clearer when he knows less, humorously referring to his absence from the batters’ meetings.
“Cricket is all about batting so looking to contribute more as a batter. That said, I still enjoy by bowling. I have one role and the less I know the better it is for me,” Narine said.
In the past three IPL editions, Narine’s batting prowess had diminished, failing to surpass even 100 runs across a season. However, his resurgence as an opener underscores the faith invested in him by the franchise, influenced by the strategic use of the pinch-hitter role by former captain Gautam Gambhir, now serving as the team’s mentor.
KKR’s bowling unit, led by Varun Chakravarthy and Vaibhav Arora’s three-wicket hauls, along with Narine’s economical bowling and Mitchell Starc’s resurgence with two wickets, ensured Delhi’s batting collapse despite fifties from Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs.
KKR’s flawless start to IPL 2024, winning their first three matches, catapulted them to the top of the points table, a historic feat for the franchise.
