Narine's absence will be felt
West Indies spinner Sunil Narine - left out of the tour to England - has been one of the bowling stars in the ongoing IPL season for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders
Akhila Ranganna
25-Feb-2013
West Indies spinner Sunil Narine - left out of the tour to England - has been one of the bowling stars in the ongoing IPL season for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. His non-selection for the England tour, is a great shame writes Amol Rajan in the Independent.
It is a great shame that Narine has not been selected for the Test squad touring England – and that the selectors didn't have the courage to partner him with taller off-spinner Shane Shillingford. Mendis was nullified by video technology and straighter batting. Except in Muttiah Muralitharan's case, it tends to be masterfully orthodox spin bowlers – Shane Warne, for instance – who thrive. As Narine will soon discover, mystery is temporary but mastery is permanent.
Akhila Ranganna is assistant editor (Audio) at ESPNcricinfo