KKR CEO speaks of Narine and Russell's all-rounder abilities.
Venky Mysore, CEO of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), believes that Sunil Narine “is not that far behind” Andre Russell in terms of his “all-round capabilities”.
Narine has been with the KKR since 2012 and played starring roles with the ball for the franchise over the years including in the two IPL title triumphs in 2012 and 2014. But since the IPL 2017 season, the West Indian spinner has reinvented himself as an all-rounder in recent times, scoring quick runs 224, 357, and 143, at strikes rates of 172.30, 189.89 and 166.27 respectively.
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On the other hand, Russell has been phenomenal with both bat and ball, while has incredible numbers: in 2019, where he scored 1080 runs at a strike rate of 182.12 across all T20s, including a mammoth 510 runs in IPL last year at a strike rate of 204.81.
Mysore said in an interview on The RK Show: “A lot of people keep thinking about Andre Russell as the best allrounder, which he is. Our coach [McCullum], I borrowed a line from him, when he said that 'Andre Russell is the Michael Jordan of T20 cricket'.”
He added, “But, at the same time, you look at Sunil Narine’s stats, a lot of people might be pleasantly surprised as to how… he is not that far behind in terms of his all-round capabilities and how he has contributed to KKR and what he does — with the bat; we know what he does with the ball.”
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Noteworthy, both Narine and Russell are currently playing for the Trinbago Knight Riders and Jamaica Tallawahs respectively in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020.
In the ongoing CPL 2020, Narine has been impressive in his three matches so far, scoring two half-centuries, 50 and 53, and took four wickets. Following the tournament, the two star cricketers will join the KKR team in the UAE for the IPL 2020 starting on 19th September.
(With ESPNcricinfo Inputs)