IPL 2020 | Sunil Narine’s tweaked action will trouble batsmen, opines Gautam Gambhir

Sunil Narine’s rise in the IPL and world cricket crossed paths with Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as successful captain for the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise. Since his debut for the Knight Riders, which incidentally came under the captaincy of Gambhir, the mystery off-spinner has made the league his own, with his immaculate bowling performances. While he was one of the most important parts of the KKR puzzles during their successful run, his bowling performance has subdued in the last two years - largely due to his remodelled action post his ban for chucking in 2016. 

However, ahead of the 2020 season, the off-spinner has remodelled his bowling action once again, this time with a tweak that ensures that he still remains one of the most dangerous bowlers around the world. Narine introduced the bowling action in the ongoing season of the Caribbean Premier League, and thus he was been instrumental in Trinbago Knight Riders’ stellar performance this season. Opining on the same, Gambhir admitted that Narine’s tweaked action will trouble batsmen this season. 

“For me, the most important thing is that when Sunil Narine is hiding the ball during his run-up, it will increase the difficulties for the batsmen. It will be difficult to find which ball will go away and which ball will come in. Because the later you see the ball in the hand, the more difficult it is for the batsmen,” Gambhir said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports, reported Hindustan Times. 

While Narine has picked up five wickets in four league games for TKR this season, his bowling might come in handy in slow and turning conditions in the Middle East, where IPL will be hosted this season. Gambhir proclaimed that if Narine gets a little bit of grip from the wickets, his pace alongside his mystery element can trouble the batsmen. 

“If Sunil Narine gets a little grip from the UAE wickets, he will be very effective. The pace at which Sunil Narine is bowling, Rashid Khan is so successful because of his pace and Sunil Narine has been successful when he has bowled quicker, it is a new thing we have seen and this might make him very successful in the IPL.”