Sunil Narine announces retirement from international cricket: Decoding his stats
West Indies spin wizard Sunil Narine called time on his international career on Sunday via an Instagram post. The 35-year-old spinner has however affirmed that he wants to continue playing franchise cricket around the globe. Narine is regarded as one of the greatest spinners in T20 cricket but he never really made a name for himself while playing for West Indies. Here's more.
Why does this story matter?
Narine has played in various franchise T20 tournaments and has found success all over the globe. However, his international career with WI has nothing but a couple of note-worthy moments in limited-overs cricket. The spinner was marred with fitness concerns and bowling action issues throughout his career and hence WI stopped considering him after a certain period. Hence, he didn't play much for WI.
A look at Narine's T20I career
Playing 51 T20Is for Windies, Narine returned with 52 wickets at an average of 21.25. The mystery spinner bowled at an impressive economy rate of 6.01. His best bowling figures of 4/12 came against New Zealand. Overall, he is the fourth-highest wicket-taker for West Indies in T20Is. Only Dwayne Bravo (78), Jason Holder (57) and Samuel Badree (54) have scalped more wickets.
A look at his numbers in ODIs and Tests
Narine played 65 ODIs for West Indies, taking 92 scalps at 26.46. His last ODI appearance was on October 5, 2016. Overall, he owns 182 scalps in 113 List A matches. Meanwhile, Narine played a handful of six matches in the longest format, taking 21 scalps. He averaged 40.52. His last match in this format for WI came in 2013.
Third-highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket
Narine has scalped 525 wickets in 483 T20 matches and is only the third bowler with 500-plus wickets. He owns an impressive average of 21.28 while scalping a solitary fifer and 12 four-wicket hauls. Narine is only behind, Bravo (619) and Rashid Khan (556) in terms of T20 wickets. His economy rate of 6.12 is the best among bowlers with 400-plus wickets.
Seventh-highest wicket-taker in the IPL
The WI spinner has been tremendously successful in the Indian Premier League (IPL) scalping 163 wickets in 162 matches at an average of 25.78. Narine owns a solitary fifer and seven four-wicket hauls. His best T20 figures of 5/19 came against Kings XI Punjab in 2012. He is one of the 10 bowlers with 150-plus wickets in the IPL.
Highest wicket-taker for Kolkata Knight Riders
Narine is the leading wicket-taker for Kolkata Knight Riders with 181 scalps from 171 matches at 24.14. No other bowler has even scalped 100 wickets for them. He guided KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, scalping over 20 wickets in both seasons.
Narine expressed his gratitude for playing for West Indies
"I appreciate it has been over four years since I last played for West Indies but today I am announcing my retirement from international cricket," Narine wrote on Instagram. "Publicly I am a man of few words but privately there are a few people who have given me unwavering support throughout my career and helped me realise my dream of representing West Indies."
Why didn't Narine play more for the West Indies?
Narine's international numbers are decent and considering the bowler he is, he could have been an asset for the Windies. However, his issues with form, fitness and bowling action often forced the West Indies Cricket Board to exclude him from important tournaments. The West Indies Cricket Board has often blamed him for not showing much interest in representing the team at international events.
