The umpire’s finger had gone up but Sunil Narine hung around hoping to get non-striker Ajinkya Rahane’s nod and seek a review. He trudged off reluctantly once the Kolkata Knight Riders captain found no reason to use the DRS, much to his distress.
It was almost a perfect yorker, wide outside the off stump, and as Narine backed away and tried to steer it down, he got a thick outside edge. The bat had brushed the ground, leading to a bit of confusion in Narine’s mind, but Heinrich Klaasen had lapped it up cleanly.
The opening partnership has been a cause of much concern for the defending champions though Quinton de Kock almost singlehandedly fetched them victory against Rajasthan Royals. The Narine-De Kock combination added 4 in the opener before the West Indian was forced to miss the second game because of illness.
Back at the Eden on Thursday, the pair managed 14 with both back in the dugout before the third over. A solid opening combination always ushers in hope and provides the momentum in a T20 contest.
Narine had been in ominous form during their successful campaign last season and stitched together a potent partnership, first with Phil Salt and later with Rahmanullah Gurbaz. His 488 runs in 14 innings at a strike-rate of 180.74 had gone a long way in bagging the Most Valuable Player award.
Is Narine missing Gautam Gambhir’s inspiration? The two share a strong bond since their playing days at KKR since 2011. The former KKR captain and mentor had pushed Narine to open in 2017, a move which fetched great success last season too.
Narine had always credited Gambhir for instilling confidence in him with his robust batting proving to be a masterstroke. The mystery spinner has hardly been able to reinvent his mojo with the bat this edition so far.
Will a change of strategy benefit KKR? Would it be a fair idea to try out Venkatesh Iyer in the opening slot?
The KKR vice-captain was back among runs on Thursday and has a decent record as an opener in the IPL — 1326 runs in 22 innings at a strike-rate of 135.81, including 10 instances where he finished as the team’s top scorer.
Dropping Narine down the order could allow him more freedom and benefit the Knights. The batting order has been too predictable allowing the rival bowlers to chalk out their plans in advance.
Sometimes such out-of-the-box ploys work wonders and take the opposition by surprise. Gurbaz’s presence in the squad could also allow the Knights to rejig their strategy and find the right balance.
But will the think-tank come out of their comfort zone and show the courage to try something different?
