Eyes on out-of-form Narine as Kolkata takes on Punjab
Narine has not been the same ‘mystery bowler’, who burst onto the T20 franchise scene, for many seasons now. With KKR staring at another first-round exit, having earned only four wins in 10 matches, there is no room for error in the next four games.
KOLKATA: A go-to man for Kolkata Knight Riders for more than a decade, Sunil Narine will have to play out of his skin to justify his place in the eleven when his team faces Punjab Kings in a must-win Indian Premier League match here on Monday.
Narine has not been the same ‘mystery bowler’, who burst onto the T20 franchise scene, for many seasons now. With KKR staring at another first-round exit, having earned only four wins in 10 matches, there is no room for error in the next four games. The question is whether Knight Riders can still afford to play Narine, who only has seven scalps from 10 matches with an economy rate of 8.76 and aggregate of 14 runs from eight batting innings.
While KKR will have to take some tough selection calls, Punjab too is in a spot of bother. After being out-batted by Mumbai Indians in Mohali in its last outing, PBKS is a spot ahead of the eighth-placed KKR with 10 points from as many matches.
Boasting a sound bowling attack with the likes of Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh, Punjab failed to defend 214 in its previous match. So, the bowling group would hope to deliver an improved performance.
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