Avik Roy
Kolkata, April 6: After getting clearance from the BCCI, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) mystery spinner Sunil Narine appeared at the nets at the newly decorated Eden Gardens here Saturday. He bowled for an hour with some aggression and determination.
Narine, who was ruled out of the Champions League final last year for ‘chucking’, got the all important clearance from the BCCI just a day ago. After skipping KKR’s first two practice sessions, the West Indian finally eased the underlying tension within the team by bowling a number of overs at the Eden Gardens as cameras far and near panned on him.
KKR, who practiced indoors Sunday due to incessant rains, also faced a similar problem Monday when rain put paid to their training session as it was cut short by an hour at the Eden Gardens.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan all were present at the nets. While Gambhir was seen doing shadows, Yusuf was busy joking with teammates. Uthappa showed his class during the team’s batting session with a flurry of classic cover drives. However, KKR’s new recruit KC Cariappa’s bowling remained a concern for the management, who are not happy at the way the young spinner is shaping up at the nets, sources stated.
Meanwhile, bowling coach Wasim Akram and mentor Jacques Kallis joined the team Monday. Kallis, who for the first time is playing the role of a mentor, kept himself busy with the youngsters. Akram was verifying the actions of bowlers and giving away valuable tips.
However, facing a side like the Mumbai Indians, against whom KKR have registered only three victories over the last seven IPL seasons will always be a tough proposition. But the Kolkata outfit looked a fresh and confident lot with an injection of extra dose of energy in them ahead of the T20 opener.
