Staying relaxed is the key to my success in T20 cricket, says Sunil Narine

Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree: Spin twins for the West Indies

Sunil Narine, the West Indies mystery spinner, has said that he uses his variations to get into the mind of the batsmen and that it helps him work his way into a spell.

“I only have three (different) balls,” Narine said. “Just to keep the batsmen thinking. Once you have the batsmen thinking they tend to look at you a little more and in the extra time they look at me, my overs tend to finish.”

Narine will join the West Indies T20 squad for their two-match T20 series against New Zealand, after missing out on the Test matches. Narine’s return provides a tremendous boost to West Indies’ chances of salvaging pride against New Zealand by winning the T20 series; he offered an insight into his thinking process while bowling in T20 cricket, a format designed to marginalize the bowlers.

“The key component is probably to be as relaxed as possible because it's a very intense game and batsmen are always coming at you. So the minute you get too hyper you tend to do what you're not accustomed to. So just stay as relaxed as possible and maintain the skill level that you have.”

Narine also welcomed the healthy competition prevailing in the West Indies squad between himself and his spin partner Samuel Badree. Badree is currently ranked the No.1 T20 bowler in the world according to ICC rankings and has taken 5 more wickets than Narine has in the last 12 months.

“I think it's a good, friendly rivalry. I think Badree has been doing very well over the past couple of months. I think he's been doing a good job so that's why he's No.1. So hopefully I can do as good as him and hopefully pass him this series.”

Narine also acknowledged West Indies seamer Krishmar Santokie’s recent contributions and said that Santokie bowling well makes the job easier for him and the other bowlers. Santokie, a specialist in the T20 format, has slowly started making a name for himself through his performances. His knack of dismissing quality top-order batsmen in addition to his effectiveness during the death overs has made him a crucial member of the team.

“I think Santokie has been a very excellent bowler. The couple of games he has played for West Indies, he has been getting early breakthroughs for us and that makes it a lot easier in the middle and at the end. So I think Santokie starting up and getting early wickets does a lot for West Indies,” he said.