Sunil Narine returns to the West Indies fold with the mystery spinner seeking to maintain his stranglehold over New Zealand in the T20 Internationals today and tomorrow at Windsor Park in Dominica.
Narine was declared ineligible by the West Indies Cricket Board for the three Test series, which the tourists won 2-1, due to his inability to join the mandatory training camp ahead of the series.
His decision to stay with the Kolkata Knight Riders reaped dividends with the franchise lifting the Indian Premier League title for the second time in three seasons.
Now though, he has the chance to extend an impressive record of 12 wickets for 120 runs in five T20 Internationals against the Black Caps and also fuel speculation that his presence in the West Indies Test side could have made a critical difference in the series won 2-1 by Brendon McCullum’s men.
New Zealand’s captain may be tempted to put himself at the top of the order alongside all-rounder Jimmy Neesham given that the trio who shared opening duties in Tests – Tom Latham, Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford – may not be considered ideal for the frenetic pace of Twenty20 cricket.
