Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) West Indian stars Andre Russell and Sunil Narine on September 13 reached the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in the upcoming IPL 2020. The IPL franchise welcomed them on Twitter on Sunday.
KKR’s star duo arrived from the Caribbean a week before the start of IPL 2020, having taken part in the recently-concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL). KKR posted pictures of them on their official Twitter handle. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine will be however in quarantine for at least six days before joining the squad for training purpose.
Kolkata Knight Riders Welcome Leading Wicket Taker Sunil Narine And All-Rounder Andre Russell:
Sunil Narine, who scored 143 runs besides taking 10 wickets in 12 matches is KKR’s leading wicket-taker with 122 wickets in 110 matches averaging only 23.31 and his economy of 6.67 is also exceptional.
Narine has modified his bowling action which has reduced his efficiency somewhat as he could not pick more than 20 wickets in any season after 2014. He has however contributed with batting while opening from 2017 as shown by his overall strike rate of 168.34.
#CantKeepCalm – ?? + ?✨have arrived from the Caribbean!@Russell12A @SunilPNarine74#KKRHaiTaiyaar #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/Udq9kaX0ab
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) September 13, 2020
Andre Russell has played 64 matches and has contributed with 1400 runs at a staggering strike rate of 186.41 and average of 33.33. He has also picked up 55 wickets averaging 27.96.
Both Andre Russell and Sunil Narine have received Most Valuable Player award twice for contributions with both bat and ball. Andre Russell is the current receiver in 2019 and 2015, while Sunil Narine had received the award in 2012 and 2018.
Kolkata Knight Riders Ecstatic With Joy After News Of Availability Of Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins And Tom Banton:
Kolkata Knight Riders where further rejoiced after it emerged that England captain Eoin Morgan, Australian quick Pat Cummins and England opening batsman Tom Banton will all be available for the team’s opening IPL 2020 match against defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on September 23.
The trio is currently involved in ongoing England and Australia bilateral ODI series, which ends on September 16 which is just three days before the start of IPL 2020.
KKR will be looking at their foreigners to help improve on their fifth-place finish last season. The Dinesh Karthik-led outfit finished on 12 points in IPL 2019, winning just six out of the 14 matches they played.
KKR spent a huge sum of money on Pat Cummins to bolster their bowling attack while Eoin Morgan makes a return to the franchise, having represented them from 2011 to 2013. It is to note that Pat Cummins played for KKR too in 2014 and 2015.
The team will be hoping that Andre Russell can repeat his batting heroics from last season. The West Indian all-rounder was in devastating form in 2019, smashing 510 runs at an average of 56.66 at an overwhelming strike-rate of 204.81. He smashed the most number of sixes numbering 52 last season, with the next best being Chris Gayle at 34.