Sunil Narine missed Kolkata Knight Riders’ clash against Rajasthan Royals as he was unwell on the match day. Narine was replaced by Moeen Ali for the fixture. Is he fit for KKR’s clash against the Mumbai Indians? Head coach Chandrakant Pandit opens up on Narine’s fitness.
Kolkata Knight Riders missed out on the services of Sunil Narine in their previous match against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2025. Narine was unwell and could not be part of KKR’s eight-wicket win, with Moeen Ali replacing him.
Moeen filled Narine’s shoes to a good extent with the ball but not with the bat. Moeen took 2/23 in his four overs, however, he could not make the most of the chance when he was sent to open, falling for five.
KKR would be boosted as Narine is set to return for KKR’s fixture against the Mumbai Indians on Monday. Meanwhile, KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit provided a fitness update on Narine, saying that he is 100% fit. “Sunil is 100% fit. He has definitely recovered well and he’s been practising since yesterday,” KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit said on Sunday. “Today he is practising as well so he is absolutely fine at the moment.”
Narine trained with the team on Saturday and then again on Sunday in the build-up to their match against MI at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Notably, Moeen was informed on the match day that he would be playing against KKR. “I’ve been practising well, and I just try to be ready all the time,” Moeen said after the RR match. “I got told this morning that Sunny [Narine] was not well and to just be ready whenever. Obviously, hard to replace Sunny, but I felt like I did a nice job of it.
“You’re just waiting for your turn, and when the chance comes, you try and take it as much as you can. But on some wickets like today, I probably used my experience as much as I could to actually keep it simple, keep the stumps in play, keep the line to the left-handers in particular quite straight and just try and spin the ball.”
