Kolkata:- Kolkata Knight Riders coach Trevor Bayliss today said that his side have made a smooth transition from Sunil Narine to Brad Hogg but they still want the Trinidadian spinner badly in the ongoing IPL cricket tournament.
After being barred by the BCCI from bowling his off-spin following a retest in Chennai, Narine underwent a third test and the report is still awaited.
In the absence of Narine, 44-year-old Australian chinaman bowler Brad Hogg has taken eight wickets in four matches, including a four-wicket haul in their win against Chennai Super Kings.
“The performance of our spinners particularly Hogg replacing Sunil has been a fairly easy transition. It really has not affected the team very much at all,” Bayliss told a press conference on the eve of their clash against Delhi Daredevils.
“Obviously we’re hoping that he gets back into play as quick as possible. He’s an important part of our team, like a popular member of the squad,” he said.
In the ongoing IPL season, Narine has taken two wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 8.08 and was left out of Kolkata’s away clash against Chennai Super Kings on April 28 to accommodate Hogg.
Even as the future looks bleak for Narine, the KKR chief coach backed the Trinidad off-spinner saying he would need a couple of years to be back to his usual self.
“He’s done a lot of hard work after the CLT20. If you have seen the first two or three games this season his action was very very good. Over a period of time, under a little bit pressure, the body reverts to the action you usually bowl,” Bayliss said.
“It will take a year or two to be absolutely perfect under pressure. It will depend on how hard he works on it but he’s worked very hard on that since October and turned up in the IPL with a new action. We’re quite confident he wants to work hard, he wants to play cricket and wants to do the right the thing.
