IPL 2018| Sunil Narine’s bowling skills have overshadowed his batting abilities, believes Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa has showered words of praise on his KKR teammate Sunil Narine’s batting abilities and opined that Narine’s quality bowling has overshadowed his batting prowess. Recalling Sunil Narine’s tough times, Uthappa said, KKR management has taken care of him extremely well in his tough days.
Sunil Narine’s emergence as an opener in last year’s IPL has done a world of good for Kolkata Knight Riders franchise. The pinch hitter has fired most occasions in the top of the order which has helped KKR to post commendable scores in the powerplay.
Talking about Sunil Narine in the pre-match presser, Robin Uthappa especially praised his team man and opined how his magnificent bowling has overshadowed his batting skills. He also added that his number 3 slot has made the job easy, for the management to try Sunil Narine as an opener and giving the license for going after bowlers.
"This (Narine as an opener) is something even we didn’t know until last year. Sunil is someone who has always enjoyed batting. But what he bowled and what he does with his bowling skill is so special that the batting got overshadowed. So he could always bat and when we saw that making him open the batting, he could utilize the Power Play so well with the way he bats," Uthappa said.
“Having someone like me at No. 3 makes it easier for the team management to make that decision just in case a wicket falls quickly, you have another opening batsman going in. He has come up so well. I think it has also done a world of good to his confidence personally. From the outside when I look at it, he has got another opportunity to contribute to the team which has made him more successful as a player.”
In a special note, Uthappa opined that Narine’s mental strength had also helped him, after several questions raised over his action in different stages of his career and how the Kolkata Knight Riders family has taken care of him in his tough days.
“One thing that’s special about Sunil is that he is a very strong guy. He is a very quiet chap off the field as well. But having said that, he is mentally extremely strong and he knows that he can always fall back on us as a unit,” felt Uthappa. “As a franchise, KKR have been there for him and have taken care of him really well. All of that builds into his confidence. And the fact that if there are any shortcomings at any point in time, he can bounce back from any of it.”
Robin Uthappa didn’t commit on KKR’s star performer Nitish Rana’s availability for the match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Rana had missed the previous game against Chennai Super Kings at home, which they won by six wickets and climbed to the third spot on the points table.
“Nitish seems like he is in a better place. It was his back. It’s getting better. But I think the call will be taken later today or tomorrow based on how he pulls up and feels,” Uthappa revealed.
Looking ahead to their game against Mumbai, against whom they haven’t won a single match in the last couple of years of IPL, Uthappa said Kolkata were focusing on themselves rather than the opposition.
“I don’t think we are perceiving it by that point of view. We are looking at where we are coming from and what we want to achieve,” he maintained. “We have a number of games to go and we need to win a certain number of those. For us, it’s taking one game at a time, keeping our goal in mind. We definitely want to finish in the top two. So, keeping that in mind, we are trying to work our way up to that place,” Uthappa concluded.
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