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News

Spinners will play key role - Narine

Sunil Narine believes that the spinners will have a key role to play in the World T20 in Bangladesh, where he expects conditions to favour the slow bowlers

Renaldo Matadeen
18-Mar-2014
Sunil Narine - "Just knowing the guys have full faith in me gives the motivation and self-belief. I just try to give my best whatever situation I have to bowl in"  •  AFP

Sunil Narine - "Just knowing the guys have full faith in me gives the motivation and self-belief. I just try to give my best whatever situation I have to bowl in"  •  AFP

Sunil Narine believes that the spinners will have a big part to play in West Indies' title defence of the World T20 in Bangladesh, where conditions traditionally favour the slow bowlers.
"Spinners will play a key role but I think at the end of the day it will be whole team effort," he said. "I think all of our guys are keen on taking the challenge. We have a good bunch of guys going out there and we will give it our all. With (Samuel) Badree in the team and (Krishmar) Santokie, I think that's a good combination. I think it sets the right tone and they tend to always pick up early wickets so it makes it easier on me later in the game."
Narine added that he felt comfortable coming into the tournament as the top-ranked T20 bowler. In the last World T20 in Sri Lanka, Narine had taken nine wickets in seven games, including figures of 3 for 9 in the final against Sri Lanka. Narine said he was prepared to deliver the goods amid all the hype around him.
"It is difficult bowling in T20 cricket especially in the first six overs but at the end of the day, if the captain has belief in you, it's only fitting that you go out there and give it your all," Narine said. "You have to have self-belief. Bowling at [these] guys, they're going to hit the ball out of the ground but you never know, they could mis-hit one and that can change a game.
"Just knowing the guys have full faith in me gives the motivation and self-belief. I just try to give my best whatever situation I have to bowl in and whatever the team requires, I try to do it. As for trying something new? Not at the moment, I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible."
Narine also expressed his relief at West Indies' impressive form in their home series against England, admitting that it proved to be a big confidence booster before entering Bangladesh. He was equally happy that West Indies managed to retain the core of their title-winning team that prevailed in Sri Lanka two years ago, something that is bound to help them if they are to progress from a difficult group.
"It's a tough group but once you play good cricket, anything is possible. There are a lot of spinners and it's good for the cricket to see that every team has a world class spinner. It's better for the game.
"We have a lot of experience in our team and we know exactly what we have to do. Once we go out there and do the basics right, hopefully we'll come out on top."

Renaldo Matadeen is a sportswriter and social media manager for ESPN Caribbean. He tweets here