IPL History: 10 Finest Overseas Players of All-Time

#6 Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine gained a lot of attention due to his performances in the Champions League T20 in 2011. A couple of months later, Narine found himself as a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in 2012.

Immediately, he exceeded all expectations and became their go-to man with the ball. He picked up a total of 24 wickets in his debut season falling just one wicket short of winning the purple cap. The next two seasons were also quite exceptional for Narine.

However, he went through a bit of a rough patch when he was called for having a suspect action which forced him to modify his bowling action.

He wasn’t as effective after changing his bowling action and struggled to take wickets on a consistent basis. Instead, he worked on his batting and tried to get better with the bat as well.

In a masterstroke, KKR decided to open the batting with Narine in 2017. He would bat mainly as a pinch hitter and would ensure his team got off to a quick start. He has also scored a couple of fifties and currently holds the record for the joint-fastest IPL fifty getting to the landmark in just 15 balls.

He had his best season with the bat in 2018 scoring 357 runs at a strike-rate of 189.89. Sunil Narine has played a pivotal role in helping his franchise lift the coveted IPL trophy twice.