Sunil Narine Archives

Sunil Narine enters elite T20 list with landmark feat

SHARJAH: West Indies ace spinner Sunil Narine entered the T20 record books by becoming the third bowler to take 600 wickets in the format during the International League T20 (ILT20) second fixture here at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The mystery spinner achieved the milestone while leading the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders’ opening match against the Sharjah Warriorz on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old removed Tom Abell to take his 600th wicket, after ending his Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on 599 wickets in September.

Sunil Narine has taken 558 innings to reach the feat, the most among the two others. Overall, he bowled an economical spell, giving away only 22 runs in his quota of four overs.

With this, Narine entered an elite list with Rashid Khan and his compatriot Dwayne Bravo, who have more than 600 wickets to their name in T20 cricket.

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Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan tops the chart with 681 wickets to his name, followed by Bravo, whose wicket tally is 631.

Most wickets in T20 cricket

681 – Rashid Khan (495 innings)
631 – Dwayne Bravo (546 innings)
600 – Sunil Narine (558 innings)
570 – Imran Tahir (429 innings)
504 – Shakib Al Hasan (453 innings)

With Rashid joining MI Emirates as a replacement player, the Afghan leg-spinner now has a strong chance to move closer to the 700-wicket milestone, competing in both the ILT20 and SA20 tournaments back-to-back.

Nonetheless, the match began poorly for Warriorz, as their decision to bowl first backfired when Abu Dhabi Knight Riders posted a massive 233-run total.

Liam Livingstone and Sherfane Rutherford delivered explosive innings, with Livingstone blasting 33 runs off a single Dwayne Pretorius over, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Although Tim David, supported by Pretorius and Rashid, showed late resistance, Warriorz ultimately fell short, with the Knight Riders securing an impressive 39-run victory to open their campaign.

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Sunil Narine, Anrich Nortje fail bat gauge test during IPL 2025

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) players Sunil Narine and Anrich Nortje found themselves at the centre of a rare equipment-related controversy as their bats failed the gauge test during their IPL 2025 clash against Punjab Kings on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, where Punjab Kings successfully defended a modest 111-run total, the lowest total ever defended in IPL history, to pull off a remarkable win.

As KKR prepared to chase 112, reserve umpire Saiyed Khalid was seen checking bats near the boundary line, just before the start of the innings.

Sunil Narine, opening the innings alongside young Angkrish Raghuvanshi, was stopped briefly as his bat failed to pass through the ICC-mandated bat gauge, due to excessive thickness. In contrast, Raghuvanshi’s bat was cleared without any issues.

Narine, despite the bat drama, came out to open the innings but couldn’t make an impact. He managed just 5 runs off 4 balls before being dismissed early in the chase.

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Later, in the 16th over, with KKR nine wickets down and chasing a fading target, last-man Anrich Nortje walked in, only to be stopped by on-field umpires Mohit Krishnadas and Saidharshan Kumar.

TV commentators revealed that Nortje’s bat, too, had failed the compliance check. Play was temporarily halted as KKR’s substitute player Rahmanullah Gurbaz sprinted in with a set of replacement bats.

One of them passed the gauge test, but Nortje didn’t even get to use it. On the very next ball, Andre Russell was bowled, ending KKR’s innings at 95 in 15.1 overs.

According to IPL equipment regulations, a bat must adhere to strict dimensions: a maximum width of 10.79 cm, blade thickness of up to 6.7 cm, edge thickness not exceeding 4 cm, and total length no more than 96.4 cm.

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Sunil Narine rules out West Indies return for T20 World Cup

Sunil Narine says the “door is closed” on his West Indies career after his sparkling IPL form prompted calls for him to come out of international retirement for their home T20 World Cup.

The bowling all-rounder has starred for Kolkata Knight Riders as an opening batsman, with 286 runs including a century and a half-ton in the current IPL.

He has taken nine wickets with his mystery spin and stifled the opposition’s run flow with an economy of 7.10 in a high-scoring season.

West Indies captain Rovman Powell had urged the 35-year-old to make a comeback for the World Cup in June, which the West Indies will co-host with the United States.

“I’m truly flattered and humbled that my performances recently have moved many people to publicly express their wish for me to come out of retirement and play in the upcoming T20 World Cup,” Narine wrote on social media.

“I have made peace with that decision and whilst I never wish to disappoint, that door is now closed and I will be supporting the guys who take the field in June for West Indies.”

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Narine announced his international retirement in 2023, four years after he last played a T20 for the West Indies.

He added in his post: “Guys who have worked hard for the past few months and deserve to show our wonderful fans that they are capable of winning another title, I wish you all the best.”

Narine has represented the West Indies in 51 T20Is, 65 ODIs and six Test matches since making his debut in 2011. He has taken 52 wickets in T20Is, 92 in ODIs and 21 in Test cricket.

READ: Mark Selby considers retirement after ‘pathetic’ World Championship exit

Leicestershire sign India’s Rahane as Narine returns to Surrey

LONDON: Leicestershire have signed India’s Ajinkya Rahane for part of the 2023 English domestic season, the Midlands county announced Tuesday.

The 34-year-old, who has captained his country in all formats, will arrive at Grace Road in June and be available for eight first-class County Championship matches and all of the One-Day Cup.

Rahane has scored 4,931 runs, including 12 centuries, in 82 Tests and 2,962 runs in 90 one-day internationals, although it is just over a year since he last represented India.

Leicestershire finished bottom in last season’s Second Division of the County Championship without winning a match.

Rahane, who previously had a county stint with Hampshire in 2019 where he scored a century on debut against Nottinghamshire, said in a statement: “I’m really happy to be joining Leicestershire for the upcoming season.

“I can’t wait to play alongside my new team-mates and explore the vibrant city of Leicester.”

Leicestershire director of cricket Claude Henderson added: “He (Rahane) comes with a lot of experience and a tremendous work ethic. It’s a great opportunity for us to tap into that.”

Meanwhile Surrey have re-signed West Indies spinner Sunil Narine for the 2023 Blast.

Narine will be available for all fixtures that do not clash with his commitments to the Kolkata Knight Riders in the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Last year, Narine took 14 wickets at an economy of 5.96 per over in the Blast, and hit 199 runs at a strike rate of 163.11.

“Getting knocked out in the quarter-final last year was a real disappointment with the team we had,” Narine said in a club statement. “I know we can do better this year and will do what I can to help get us to Finals Day.”

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