Kolkata Knight Riders will naturally turn to Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to get wickets in the contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The duo are yet to start firing in IPL 2025. KKR have gotten what they have asked for – a “dry” surface that is expected to favour spin at the Eden Gardens. Now, it’s time their premium spinners start delivering.
KKR need Narine, Varun to take more wickets vs SRH
Narine has played 25 matches against SRH but has only managed to take 14 wickets. Varun, on the other hand, has slightly better numbers, having bagged 11 wickets from as many number of matches against Hyderabad.
What is concerning is that Narine’s last best performance against SRH came nearly 10 years ago. Since then, he has managed to take a maximum of 2 wickets against the side. In the last five years, he has gone wicketless against SRH 5 out of 9 times, while managing to take just one wicket on the other 4 occasions. Overall, Narine has not managed to take any wickets against SRH on 14 out of 25 occasions.
| Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy | Date |
| 4.0 | 31 | 0 | 7.75 | 26 Sep 2020 |
| 4.0 | 12 | 0 | 3.00 | 3 Oct 2021 |
| 4.0 | 23 | 0 | 5.75 | 15 Apr 2022 |
| 4.0 | 34 | 1 | 8.50 | 14 May 2022 |
| 4.0 | 28 | 0 | 7.00 | 14 Apr 2023 |
| 2.0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | 4 May 2023 |
| 4.0 | 19 | 1 | 4.75 | 23 Mar 2024 |
| 4.0 | 40 | 1 | 10.00 | 21 May 2024 |
| 4.0 | 16 | 1 | 4.00 | 26 May 2024 |
Varun, on the other hand, has tasted more success against SRH compared to Narine. In fact, he has managed to take a wicket or two on most occasions when KKR have clashed with the Orange Army. However, he has taken a maximum of 2 wickets in a match while maintaining an economy rate of 8.29, which is slightly higher than his normal rate 7.36.
| Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Ave | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 | 25.00 | 26 Sep 2020 |
| 4.0 | 32 | 1 | 8.00 | 32.00 | 18 Oct 2020 |
| 4.0 | 36 | 0 | 9.00 | – | 11 Apr 2021 |
| 4.0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | 13.00 | 3 Oct 2021 |
| 3.0 | 45 | 0 | 15.00 | – | 15 Apr 2022 |
| 4.0 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 | 25.00 | 14 May 2022 |
| 4.0 | 41 | 1 | 10.25 | 41.00 | 14 Apr 2023 |
| 4.0 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | 20.00 | 4 May 2023 |
| 4.0 | 55 | 1 | 13.75 | 55.00 | 23 Mar 2024 |
| 4.0 | 26 | 2 | 6.50 | 13.00 | 21 May 2024 |
| 2.0 | 9 | 1 | 4.50 | 9.00 | 26 May 2024 |
In IPL 2025, Chakravarthy has taken 3 wickets in as many number of matches. Narine, on the other hand, has taken just one wicket in two games. While the duo are economic, it is high time they start taking wickets as well. Especially against a batting powerhouse such as SRH.
With the KKR curator pulling up the team’s spinners for not being effective in their IPL 2025 opener, the onus will be on the dup to stand and deliver against SRH on Thursday.
