Daren Ganga feels change in IPL franchise might come to struggling Narine's aid

KKR’s Sunil Narine. Pics/AFP

Former West Indies captain Daren Ganga has said that the performance of Kolkata Knight Riders's spinners - Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma has affected KKR's mystery spinner Sunil Narine's wicket-taking ability in IPL-16. Ganga, 44, a commentator now, reckoned that a change in franchise might freshen up his fellow Trinidadian's fortunes in the T20 league.

Daren Ganga

"He [Narine] is operating in a KKR team where he's got two additional spinners. That was never the case. He operated primarily with Chakravarthy. But now, he's got to operate with Suyash, which makes it a little bit different for him as a player," Ganga said on the sidelines of a CricViz event at International Institute of Sports Management in Marol on Wednesday.

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Narine, who had 16 and nine wickets in the 2021 and 2022 editions respectively, has managed only seven scalps in 11 games this season so far. However, Chakravarthy and Suyash have 17 and 10 wickets respectively. "I've had the chance to speak with him [Narine]. The lack of success that they've [KKR] experienced as a team has put a lot more pressure on him as a bowler. He's got to bowl in situations where conditions are very good for batting. Kolkata is one of the best batting venues in the IPL," explained Ganga, who represented West Indies in 48 Tests, 35 ODIs and one T20I. Though Narine, 34, is going through a rough patch, his overall record in the IPL is 159 wickets in as many IPL games.