Sunil Narine made a wicket-less return in KKR's seven-wicket win over MI.
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When Sunil Narine bowled his first delivery in a competitive match in six months in front of a packed Eden Gardens, there was a sense of anticipation all around. For Rohit Sharma, who was at the crease at that point, for Narine himself, and for the rest of the Knight Riders. The mystery spinner had been reported for the second time in as many matches for suspect action, just before last year's Champions League T20 final. Earlier this month, the BCCI's Review Committee dealing with suspect action gave him a clean chit. (Report | Highlights)
Narine was introduced by Gambhir in the 7th over. It was a low full toss that Rohit Sharma responded to with a boundary towards cover. Narine was clearly shaky. "Look he was under pressure no doubt," former Australian player Dean Jones told NDTV. "The stigma about throwing is that there's this cheating tag, and you're under tremendous amount of scrutiny. There is a lot of money riding on him too, remember that. But there's no doubt the arm looked a lot straighter than what it was earlier" (Yuvraj pokes fun at Gambhir for breaking bat in IPL 2015 opener)
The Trinidadian found his feet gradually. He found an in between sort of length that kept the batsmen from charging towards him. Narine conceded 28 runs from his 4 overs, but failed to take a wicket. (Morne Morkel glad to make best use of conditions at Eden Gardens)
So how different is the new Sunil Narine from the old one? "Not very," former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar told NDTV. "Earlier you felt there was a bit of a kink in the arm, but that wasn't visible at all. In any case, he wears full sleeves always, so it's difficult to make out how much a difference there really is. There was very little for me that stood out. But if he has been tested and cleared to play, then so be it." (In Pics: Shah Rukh cheers as KKR win )
Narine's performance didn't play a decisive role in the game. And with the Eden pitch looking like it had more grass, more bounce and less turn than the previous years; the spinners weren't too effective anyway.
It would be fair to say that the 26 year old didn't do all that badly in his test. But 4 overs is a very small sample size, and it's only in the next few games that we will perhaps find out if Narine's USP is still intact.
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