How Gautam Gambhir Transformed Sunil Narine 'The Opener', Rinku Singh Reveals

Sunil Narine opening for Kolkata Knight Riders in this IPL has proved to be a masterstroke and credit for the West Indian's move up the order should go to team mentor Gautam Gambhir, reckons Rinku Singh. Narine smashed his maiden T20 hundred on Tuesday, a 56-ball 109 against Rajasthan Royals. His form at the top this season has been nothing short of remarkable considering he aggregated just 154 runs over the past three seasons while batting lower down the order. As an opener this season, he has already collected 276 runs in six games.

After scoring a memorable hundred at the Eden Gardens, Narine gave due credit to former captain Gambhir for making him open for the first time since 2017.

In the post-match interaction, Rinku echoed Narine's words.

"You can see the way Narine is batting this time. In every match, he's making runs, opening the batting and that was his (Gambhir's) idea only," Rinku said.

Narine was unleashed as an opener under Gambhir's captaincy in 2017 when he smashed IPL's fastest fifty in 15 balls, a record that was gradually improved by KL Rahul (14), Pat Cummins (14) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (13).

Narine also has a 13-ball 50 for Comilla Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League in their match against Chattogram Challengers in 2022.

Earlier he would just swivel his bat, but this time Narine is seen batting with skill and poise as his stroke-making in the arc has vastly improved.

Asked about the transformation, Rinku said: "Nothing much has changed. It's the result of his sheer hard work at the nets.

"I've just noticed one change -- he's more patient now. Earlier he used to swing his bat to every ball, now he has restrained himself and playing according to the merit of the ball. He is batting thoughtfully