Sunil Narine - How long will the mystery survive?

Sunil Narine’s success in the IPL so far (I write this piece on the eve of Kolkata Knight Riders match against Delhi Daredevils) shows the value of both research and gamble in these matters. When KKR coughed up a whopping 700,000 USD in the last auction, there was bewilderment and bemusement in equal measure. Why was the franchise paying top dollar for a rookie? And who was this Sunil Narine in any case?

As things stand today, the KKR talent scouts seemed to have studied the ‘market’ well. With everybody chasing a big name or bargain basement prices for rookies or ageing stars, they punted on a bowler who had caught the attention of aficionados not just in his home country Trinidad, but also India when the West Indies had toured here last year.

Narine’s brief career – he is only 23 still – is nevertheless interesting for its going up and down, round and about. He had played under-19 cricket for the West Indies, but was considered as one of many promising youngsters with nothing spectacular to show for it. Then came the big break.

In a trial match, he wowed the selectors by claiming all ten wickets and was quickly drafted in the Trinidad and Tobago side. But in his maiden match his form deserted him and he got no wickets. Lucky to be in the Champions League squad in 2009, he hardly made waves with his bowling in the next two years; in fact, to his chagrin, he found himself in controversy for his action when playing in the T20 tournament in the West Indies.

A timely stint with sports medicine experts at the University of Western Australia helped him correct his action – and become a wicket-taking bowler. In the 2011 Champions League he was outstanding, claiming 10 wickets at very low cost, leaving batsmen befuddled with his ability to spin the ball either way.

Impressive performances against India in the ODI series last year seemed to confirm that Narine had the skills to compete at the highest level. I suspect the KKR talent-scouting team watched him closely, did some more research and then zoomed in on him in the IPL auction in February.

The price paid for him, of course, is debatable. Even established players would have been available for that kind of money. My reckoning is that KKR’s strategy was two-pronged: to get a bowler with unusual ability and also somebody about whom very little was known to batsmen across the globe.

Mind you, this was not the first time that KKR had gone in for a relative newcomer with unorthodox skills. In the first season, it might be recalled, they had the Sri Lanka Ajantha Mendis – inventor of the ‘carrom’ delivery where the ball is held between thumb and middle finger and delivered with a strong flick, with the direction of the turn unknown to the batsman.

So far so good, but here comes the rub: how long will Narine’s mystery survive?

Mendis, for example, finds himself only an intermittent participant in Sri Lankan cricket despite having a couple of fruitful seasons. Remember, he had bamboozled India in the Test series in 2008, taking 26 wickets in three Tests in his debut series. Even players of the calibre of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman had struggled to read him. He seemed then to be the man to succeed Muttiah Muralitharan, but has since failed to find a regular place in the Test or ODI teams.

In that sense, Mendis’s plight was similar to mystery spinners preceding him, most notable among them being the two Australians Jack Iverson and John Gleeson. The two Aussies generated much hype when they first arrived on the scene, but their career records never quite matched what they promised.

Ardent followers of Indian cricket will recall that Gleeson got only very modest success when he came to India in 1969-70 with Bill Lawry’s team in spite of the spin-friendly tracks. The more successful bowler was orthodox off-spinner Ashley Mallet. Indian batsmen could read Gleeson easily, the aura around him was dissipated and soon his career came to a standstill.

The problem with such spinners is that once batsmen have studied the action, the extent of turn etc, the mystery starts to disappear. This happens even quicker in modern cricket now that teams have support staff to monitor action, flight, trajectory and turn through the use of technology which batsmen can then refer to in the dressing or even hotel rooms.

There is already talk of Narine’s every move being mapped by every team in the IPL. As one batsman who prefers to remain unnamed said, “the suspense is over, there will be no mystery about him next season.’’

That’s when Sunil Narine’s real test begins.