West Indies veteran Sunil Narine has performed outstandingly well in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner was at his best in the recently concluded Eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Narine dominated the proceedings and sent shockwaves to the RCB camp after he picked up four wickets, including prized scalps of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell. Not only this, the Caribbean star played a quickfire 15-ball 26 runs knock in the chase to inspire KKR to a 4-wicket victory.
After the magical all-round display, many fans expected West Indies to recall Narine in their T20 World Cup 2021 squad, which will be played in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. Now, Windies captain Kieron Pollard has shared his thoughts on whether Narine would be included in the T20 World Cup squad or not.
In a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Pollard confirmed that there wouldn’t be any change to the West Indies side ahead of the ICC’s deadline on Friday. The Trinidadian said they are focusing on the current 15-member squad
“If I add my two cents or my words on how his non-inclusion came about, then it could be spun – just like how he’s bowling on these Sharjah wickets – in all different directions. Let’s deal with the fifteen guys that we have here at this moment in time, which is more important, and see if we can rally around these guys and see if we can defend our title”, said Pollard.
Pollard said Narine is his ‘dear friend’ as the duo has grown up playing cricket. He termed the spinner as a ‘World Class’ cricketer.
“I have no comments on that. Enough has been said on that. I think persons have explained the reason of his non-inclusion at this point in time. For me personally, I know Sunil Narine as a friend first, before an international cricketer. We grew up playing cricket together. He is a world-class cricketer”, added Pollard.
