IPL 2018: 5 players KKR can look at as possible replacement for Sunil Narine

The Caribbean mystery spinner Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspect bowling action while featuring for the Lahore Qalandars in the on-going third edition of the PSL and there are question marks over his participation in IPL 2018 now.

Narine has not been stopped from bowling with immediate effect in the PSL but has instead been added to the warning list. According to a statement released by the Pakistan cricket board, if Narine is reported for the second time in the tournament, he will be banned from bowling in the rest of PSL 3.

While this is not a big issue for Narine’s PSL team Lahore Qalandars as they have only one game left in the tournament, this can surely be an issue for Kolkata Knight Riders who had retained Narine as one of their overseas players ahead of the auction.

The 29-year old might decide to withdraw from IPL 11 to work on his bowling action and if that happens, it will be a big blow for KKR. However, the good thing is that there are a few talented overseas spinners who went unsold in the auction and one of them might be the ideal replacement for Narine.

Here are the 5 names the KKR management might want to look at if Narine is not available.

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#1 Samuel Badree

Samuel Badree has been very successful in international T20 cricket

Samuel Badree averages 18.72 and has an economy rate of less than 6 in international T20 cricket which is outstanding, to say the least. But, surprisingly, he hasn’t been able to achieve as much success in the IPL as he has done internationally in the shortest format of the game. However, to be fair to him, he hasn’t got consistent playing opportunities for any team either.

Badree is not a classical leggie who relies on loop and looks to beat the batsman in the air. He doesn’t have a lot of variations in his bowling either. He bowls it pretty flat and quick and hardly anything turns away from the right-handers, most of his deliveries actually slide in.

But his biggest strength is his accuracy. He almost always bowls stump to stump and makes sure any mistake from the batsmen fetches him a chance to get leg-before-wicket or bowled.

#2 Ish Sodhi

Ish Sodhi is one of the leading bowlers in the shortest format of the game right now

Sodhi is a different sort of a leg-spinner than Badree. He is more classical and gets his leg spinners to dip nicely into the right-handers before turning away. And to make that delivery that bit more efficient, he can bowl the googly as well and he often bowls it very wisely without getting predictable.

He is a thinking cricketer and that is probably the reason he is one of the top bowlers across the globe in T20 cricket right now.

His base price of Rs 50 Lakh was pretty affordable for the franchises. So it definitely raised a few eyebrows when his name passed by without anyone bidding on it. If Narine takes his name out of the KKR squad, it might open up an opportunity for the Kiwi to showcase his skills.

#3 Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon is a crafty spinner and arguably the world's best in test cricket currently

Nathan Lyon is arguably the best spinner in the world at the moment as far as red ball cricket is concerned, but he isn’t a big name in white ball cricket yet. However a couple of games that he played in the last BBL season, he was pretty economical with the ball for his team Sydney Sixers.

Skill wise, Lyon is right up there. He imparts a lot of revolutions and “top-spin” on the ball due to which not only does he get spin and fizz off the surface, he gets a decent bounce as well.

Also, he is a crafty bowler who knows how to use different angles and work the batsman over. With T20 quickly becoming a tactical game, thinking bowlers are the need of the hour and Lyon falls in that category.

#4 Tabraiz Shamsi

Tabraiz Shamsi troubled some of the Indian batsmen in the recent T20 series back home

Tabraiz Shamsi has had a few outings for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the past, but his returns haven’t been that impressive. However, recently in the T20 series against India back home, he bowled well and managed to trouble the likes of Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan who are skillful players of spin. So he is someone worth considering as well.

Shamsi is a chinaman spinner who has got the wrong ‘un which comes back into the left-handers and goes away from the right-handers. Also, he is quite quick in the air and often bowls with a flatter trajectory which doesn’t allow the batsmen a lot of time to react. He can be a bit inconsistent with his lengths at times, but he has it in him to bowl the wicket-taking deliveries every now and again.

#5 Adam Zampa

Adam Zampa has put on some good performances in the IPL in the past

Adam Zampa has had his fair share of success in the IPL. He has featured for the Rising Pune Supergiants and has been pretty decent for them. He, in fact, has a 6-for to his name for RPS.

The 26-year old averages 14.63 at an economy of 7.54 runs per over in the 11 IPL games that he has played so far and these are not bad numbers by any means.

Zampa is currently the first choice leggie for Australia in white ball cricket and he has justified that with some good performances over the last 12-18 months. He has that art of getting the ball over the eye-line of the batsmen and beating them in the air while dragging them out of the crease.

He has good control over his googly and can deceive the batsmen with his flipper too.