Sunil Narine's role as an 'all-rounder' an idea from other T20 leagues: Simon Katich

One of the world’s best spinners Sunil Narine magically turned into an all rounder for the Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday night. With the big-hitting Chris Lynn sidelined due to an injury, the KKR staff wondered who could open the batting with skipper Gautam Gambhir – out came Sunil Narine’s name.

The surprising move paid off, as Narine raced to 37 off just 18 balls. He took on the likes of Varun Aaron and clubbed him for 2 consecutive sixes and a boundary. Narine’s typhoon up the order took the game away from Kings XI Punjab.

Assistant coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders Simon Katich said that this idea was sourced from other T20 leagues around the world. The former Australian was asked whether Narine’s stint as an opener was inspired from the BBL, where the West Indian opened the innings for the Melbourne Renegades on three occasions.

“We pay a fair bit of attention to all competitions and not only the BBL. In the Caribbean Premier League, the wickets are very similar to that of India. There also the spinners play a big role. The wickets turn. The Pakistan Super League is also played in similar sort of conditions. There are a number of competitions we are looking at in terms of players that are performing and playing big tournaments,” Katich was quoted as saying to India Today.

Following his stunning knock, Sunil Narine has rightfully earned the title of ‘all-rounder’. “Narine repaid the faith and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I have never seen him as vocal in training when he found out he batting at the top of the order so…his nickname is “the all-rounder” now and hopefully that continues,” Simon Katich shared.

The Melbourne Renegades also had some success with Sunil Narine as an opener, as on one occasion the West Indian scored 21 off just 13 deliveries. His stay at the crease saw him smash two fours and a six.

“We know that he can bat. I think what we saw was someone playing a role and that’s why we brought him. To play in Powerplay. After Chris Lynn being injured, we felt we needed to try and win the Powerplay and he batted wonderfully with Gautam. To be 76 after six overs is a fantastic start and it killed the game,” Katich said.

“Narine has taken Lynn’s spot at the top of the order but he was always in the team. With his ball striking capability, we felt he should bat higher up the order as he was being unutilised down at No 8. It allows us to play another overseas player in the middle order,” he added.

With Chris Lynn out, KKR opted to give New Zealand’s Colin de Grandhomme a chance on Thursday. The Kiwi is known for his massive strike rate of 171 in T20 cricket.

However, Simon Katich hinted at the fact that Narine will not open the innings against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He made it clear that this was a one-off, which worked well for the Knight Riders. The Kings XI Punjab would have perhaps made their plans with a Gambhir-Uthappa opening pair in mind. Nevertheless, to their surprise, it was Narine who walked out to the middle with his skipper.

“It (Chris Lynn’s injury) presented an opportunity for Narine and it was a surprise. But tomorrow it won’t be because Sunrisers are a very well drilled team. They are well coached and led by David Warner. They have got a very good bowling line up,” Katich said.

Simon Katich also lauded Umesh Yadav’s performance in his comeback game. India’s ace speedster was brilliant with the ball during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, testing the Aussie batsmen with both pace and bounce. Umesh picked up 4 wickets for 33 on Thursday, which included the prized scalp of KXIP skipper Glenn Maxwell.

“Most players who play at the international level for a certain period of time, they get a lot of confidence like Umesh got while playing for India. He was always bowling at good pace but even in that process, that wicket (of Maxwell) he got yesterday, it was well executed as we spoke before the game how to get Maxwell out when he started to open up. The way he got him out caught behind, following him was exactly as was discussed pre-game so that sort of stuff doesn’t go unnoticed from the coaching group,” Katich shared.

“That level of experience he has gained playing consistently for India in all formats is helping him,” he concluded.

The Kolkata Knight Riders take on defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.