Former English cricketer Kevin Pietersen – who is known to speak his mind said that Sunil Narine is no more a force to reckon with for a few years now like he used to be in the past. Narine was recently booked for a suspected bowling action during the ongoing IPL and was dropped from the KKR squad for their match against RCB on Monday in Sharjah.
Pietersen feels the management should not be worried about his situation as he is no more the threat he once was.
“Sunil Narine has not been the same bowler for a few years now. He hasn’t had his best; he hasn’t had his real big spin. Coming to Sharjah, it is not something you are really worried about Sunil Narine. And then the bowlers have found him out in his batting. You bowl him short, he doesn’t like it,” Pietersen said.
The Englishman also said that he does not feel the absence of Narine should be a big loss to the KKR setup.
In the past, Narine has single-handedly won games for the Knight Riders and is a key member of the franchise.
The Knight Riders franchise issued an official statement on Narine’s suspected bowling action in which they state that the West Indians bowling action was not reported in the games that he played prior to the last fixture against Punjab.
“Mr. Sunil Narine was reported for a suspect action by the match officials after KKR’s match vs KXIP held on Oct 10, 2020 in Abu Dhabi. This came as a surprise to the franchise and Mr. Narine, considering he has played over 115 games in the IPL since 2012 and as many as 68 games since 2015, when he was last reported during the IPL season for a suspect action before being subsequently cleared completely by SRASSC, an ICC accredited facility.
“Furthermore, he was playing his 6th game this season, with no concerns expressed formally or informally by the match officials so far,” the statement read.