Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-time best XI in IPL history

8. Sunil Narine

Although Sunil Narine is more than capable of opening the batting, he has to be accommodated in the lower middle order in the all-time KKR line up as his main role in this team is to pick up wickets. With the advent of T20 cricket, a new term of “mystery spinner” was coined and Sunil Narine is the best example of it. Narine looks to outwit batsmen with his constant innovation as an off-break bowler and is also more than useful pinch-hitter.

Narine has been a mainstay in KKR’s bowling line up ever since joining them in 2012. He produced 3 immensely productive seasons from 2012-2014 by bagging 24, 22 and 21 wickets. Since then, he has suffered a downturn in form as he was called for a suspect action which forced him to modify his action. Although he no longer picks up 20+ wickets in a season, he still earns 10-15 scalps with ease. Batsmen still find it extremely hard to score a lot of runs off the 4 overs allotted to Narine. His economy rate in the IPL is only 6.67.

Narine has re-invented himself as a very handy batsman in the past few years. He scored 357 runs in 2017, along with taking 17 wickets which earned him his second player of the tournament award, having previously won it in 2012. Narine has taken 122 wickets in the IPL which is not only the 3rd most for an overseas bowler in the IPL, it is also 56 more than any other KKR bowler. He was their first choice player to be retained in the 2018 auction, along with Russell.