SUNIL Narine’s Trinidad & Tobago coach Kelvin Williams has said that the off-spinner must add more variations to his repertoire to avoid “fading away” like Sri Lanka off-spinner Ajantha Mendis. Williams, who was in charge of T&T when Narine made his first-class debut in 2009, said that the off-spinner must continue to work hard to avoid being picked by batsmen around the world. “He has got to develop variations,” Williams told Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
“In international cricket batsmen will work you out so you can fade away if you don’t do that and that is what happened to Mendis. Narine is too smart for that to happen to him, though, but the first two years of his career will be a dream start.”
Mendis had a sensational debut Test series, against India in 2008, with a record 26 wickets but failed to live up to his promise and is no longer a permanent fixture in the Sri Lanka squad.
Narine played an important part in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title-winning IPL campaign this season by picking up 24 wickets from 15 matches at an economy-rate of 5.47 – a tally that earned him the Man-of-the-Series award.
“It’s nice to see him doing so well,” Williams said. “He is one who has been dedicated towards the development of his cricket. He always had my utmost respect because he was so determined to get to the top. He works extremely hard and is always trying to develop new things.”
However, Williams said the West Indies selectors must not rush Narine into the squad for the third Test against England, which begins in Birmingham on June 7. “He has proved himself in all the other versions of the game and the next step is Tests. I think he will do well because he is so difficult to read,” Williams said.
“I don’t think he should be rushed in. He will be up there for the ODI series (which starts on June 16) and I think he has made himself unavailable for the Tests. He should be in the Test team against New Zealand.” (ESPN Cricinfo)