West Indies‘ white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard said spinner Sunil Narine will make his comeback to international cricket once he regains confidence in his bowling. Pollard further added that his fellow Trinidadian cricketer is still not ready to feature in the national team.
With the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) season being cut short midway through due to COVID-19, Kieron Pollard suggested that Sunil Narine is not yet comfortable with his bowling action.
“He (Narine) had indicated to the selectors that he might have been available after the IPL. Then, the IPL was cut short halfway through so he might not have got the necessary preparation or confidence in his action, so he indicated that he is still not ready. We’ll play it by ear as we go along,” he said ahead of the first T20I against South Africa on Saturday.
The 33-year-old last represented the West Indies in a T20I in 2019. But, with the T20 World Cup set to take place in the sub-continent later this year, Pollard will be keen to have an experienced player like Narine in the team.
Although Narine will miss the ongoing 5-match T20 series against South Africa, the Windies have some experienced cricketers in their squad of 13 players, including Chris Gayle (41), Fidel Edwards (39), Dwayne Bravo (37), Lendl Simmons (36) and Pollard (34) himself.
However, Pollard doesn’t see any issue with this as he feels the veteran cricketers still have a lot to offer. Speaking about the ageing squad, he said:
“If these guys are assets to us, why not use the little bit of cricket they have left in them? Some of these guys play around the world and then when we see them around the world, we ask why they are not playing for us, and now they are,” he added.
Meanwhile, West Indies won the first T20I against the Proteas in Grenada. Chasing a target of 161, the hosts won the game by 8 wickets and 5 overs to spare. Evin Lewis starred with a 35-ball 71 while Gayle chipped in with a 24-ball 32.