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IPL 2017: All-rounder Sunil Narine, key to KKR's success

Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) IPL 2017 campaign has been excellent so far and one of the keys to their success is all-rounder Sunil Narine.

Kolkata, April 27: It is a popular theory that all-rounders are the biggest assets to a team in the limited overs format of cricket and in Twenty20s, the presence of a game-changing all-rounder often acts as a huge boon for the team.



Two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) started the 10th edition of the league on a high but they faced an early hammer blow when hard-hitting Chris Lynn suffered an injury against Mumbai Indians (MI). Many thought that it was such a big absence that cannot be overcome but captain Gautam Gambhir had other ideas.

KKR's Sunil Narine in action at IPL 2017


After a decent start to the season with one loss and one win, KKR without the injured Lynn faced Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the third game of the season and were chasing a healthy total of 170.

Gambhir played his trump card in that game sending spinner Sunil Narine as an opener and the Trinidadian did not let his skipper down scoring a quick 37 from 18 balls and KKR went on to win the game pretty convincingly.

Narine, who had been known thus far as a "mystery spinner" boasting an amazingly low economy rate, has done enough in the last few games to be considered as a crucial all-rounder for his team and the credit goes to his skipper Gambhir as well as to the management who trusted the 28-year-old with the bat.

The franchise from Kolkata are considered as one of the most consistent sides in IPL and this season has not been an exception so far. Shah Rukh Khan's boys are at the top of the table with 6 wins and 2 losses from 8 games and Narine has played a pivotal role in that.

Narine has scored 137 runs in this edition of IPL in 8 games with a strike rate of 182.66 hitting 23 boundaries and 5 sixes. The lift he gives to the team as a batsman is truly remarkable and as usual, he remains a stellar player with the ball as well.

KKR's season without one of their most high-profile batsmen Lynn could have been a disaster by now but Narine's fairy-tale story as a batsman has acted as a big positive for the Kolkata side. Truly, IPL never fails to surprise us.

OneIndia News

Story first published: Thursday, August 3, 2017, 7:48 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 3, 2017