Sunil Narine couldn’t have been more candid, while speaking to The Telegraph around 3.30 am on Monday, in the midst of checking-out at the ITC Gardenia Hotel. Narine, caught up in a row with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over his availability for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, later took a British Airways flight for London, en route to Port-of-Spain. “I had a job to do at the Kolkata Knight Riders and I love playing for the West Indies… After a night’s stay in London, I’ll be home on Tuesday (yesterday).
“It’s up to the WICB, if they wish to reconsider their position… I’ll be at home,” Narine, again one of the supermen for the Knight Riders, added. Narine had to report at a preparatory camp, in Barbados, by Sunday. The deadline coincided with the IPL VII final. As the camp ended yesterday, Narine is not going to Barbados. The three-Test series is still almost a week away.
Reflecting on the Knight Riders second success in the IPL (in three years), Narine said: “It’s unbelievable… I don’t think it has sunk in as yet.” As Narine was leaving, captain Gautam Gambhir came to wish “a safe journey home.” Perhaps, Gambhir could have presented a bouquet as well to his No1 bowler. Right through, after all, he’d been brilliant.