 "KKR coach Pandit confirms Narine ’100 per cent fit’ for MI clash, ducks questions on Eden pitch controversy")
Sunil Narine has been declared “100 per cent fit” and will be playing in Kolkata Knight Riders’ upcoming Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians after missing their previous fixture, against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Wednesday. The off-spinner was unwell at the time of the Knight Riders thrashing the Royals by 8 wickets at the Barsapara Stadium to collect their first win of the season.
The veteran West Indian spin-bowling all-rounder resumed training on Saturday following the team’s arrival in Mumbai from Guwahati, and was also part of the team’s preparations for Sunday.
LIVE | Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2025 Match 12 in Mumbai
“Sunil is 100 per cent fit. He has definitely recovered well and he’s been practising since yesterday. Today he is practising as well so he is absolutely fine at the moment,” coach Pandit said on Sunday.
Former England all-rounder Moeen Ali, a like-for-like replacement for Narine, was included in his place for Wednesday’s clash at the Barsapara Stadium. The 37-year-old returned figures of 2/23, getting the crucial wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana, and later opened KKR’s innings alongside Quinton de Kock, who reduced the chase of the 152-run target set by the Royals to a cakewalk with an unbeaten 97 off 61 balls.
Narine had struck 44 off 26 balls in the season-opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens last Saturday and was also tidy with the ball, registering figures of 1/27 from four overs.
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More ShortsPandit avoid questions on Eden pitch controversy
Kolkata’s Eden Gardens has under the spotlight early in the 18th IPL season following reports that suggested the team management was not happy with the wicket that was prepared for the season-opener against the Royal Challengers, which they ended up losing by seven wickets .
The Ajinkya Rahane-led side’s request for a spin-friendly wicket was believed to have been turned down by Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee, who maintains that the state association-appointed curator has the final say on the wickets that are prepared at the venue unless directed to do otherwise by the BCCI chief curator.
Pandit, however, maintained on Sunday that he was not too worried about the wickets being prepared by the curators, and that his team was ready to play on whatever surface is offered to them. The former Mumbai, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh coach added that he wasn’t really thinking about anything other than the upcoming game against five-time champions MI, who are eyeing their first win of the season after suffering back-to-back defeats.
“See, as a coach, as a team management, whatever the surface has been provided to us, we play. The control, of course, that will be under curator. And at this moment, the focus is definitely going to be on the next game tomorrow (Monday) which we are playing.
“So, at the moment, I am definitely not thinking on what has to be done, what is in whose control. But let us focus on tomorrow’s game which is very crucial for us,” Pandit said.
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The 63-year-old also avoided answering a question on whether a franchise had any say in the kind of wickets prepared for them in the IPL or not.
“No. In charge of everything at the ground… I don’t know. That doesn’t mean that they probably have control of preparing wickets. I mean, ultimately, I don’t know what is the system in the different states or different grounds where the control is not the franchisee. Probably, of course, as a team management, as a coach, as a captain, probably we expect something to be provided. So, that’s all,” he added.
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