Dear Editor,
I am in India for almost two weeks now to attend the “Indian Diaspora Indentured Academic Conference” held over the weekend in New Delhi where I presented a paper on Indian Indentureship in Guyana and the Caribbean. I used the occasion also to enjoy cricket in which several West Indians are participating in the Indian Professional League (IPL) cricket tournament.
Wherever I travelled in India and at 20/20 IPL matches, because of my ‘English’ accent, curious questions arise on my nationality as Indians would say “I look Indian”, and they want to know how come I speak English differently from them. Of course I am Indian as being born in Guyana does not make me non-Indian. And having Guyanese nationality does not make me a non-Indian in terms of race or ethnicity. It is easiest to say to Indians that I am from West Indies with which Indians easily identify or relate to in terms of cricket because of the several West Indian players in the IPL and the many Indo-Caribbean players who toured or played against India. Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine, Chris Gayle, etc, are well known by Indians. And then questions arise about the great bowling ability and, of late, the batting skill of Sunil Narine in 20/20 and the batting prowess of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in Tests, and why he is not allowed an opportunity to break Brian Lara’s record as the highest run maker in Tests for West Indian batsmen.
Everyone knows Sunil Narine (Indians pronounced his name as Na-ra-yan – a high Brahmin pandit caste) as among the best 20/20 bowlers in the word. But Indians and the world do not know about his batting skills. He has had some lusty hits in the IPL this year and in the Big Bash in Australia. He also played for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL.
Not many know that Narine is also a batsman. Earlier this year, during field research on outstanding Indo-Caribbean cricketers in Trinidad, I learn that Sunil Narine started out as a batsman in club cricket in his native Trinidad. He did not do well as a batsman when he started out his cricket career. He tried some bowling in order to be an all-rounder (batsman-bowler so his selection can be justified) where he also did not impress. So he decided he would focus on bowling. Fast or medium pace bowling was not his niche, and he did not have ability as a pace-man. So he focused on spinning. Off spinning did not work. So he focused on leg spinning where he was most effective; off spinning tend to trouble batsmen more than leg spinning.
Narine has troubled batsmen with his leg spinning ever since he started his First Class career around 2009, and he has done extremely well in the IPL as well as in other global matches in Australia, etc. He is one of the few bowlers who have taken all ten wickets in a match. So he is well-recognised as a bowler. But it is his batting ability that has surprised many – lower down the order and lately at the top of the order. At the bottom, he has hit some lusty blows to the boundary, and more at the top of the order. He has never failed to impress, including in his latest match on Sunday night for the KKR against RCB.
Very few know that Narine has good batting skills (or experience as a batsman), having batted at the top of the order in Trinidad before becoming an exceptional bowler. He has been batting well, and his captain Gautam Gambhir has praised his batting skills. That skill was amply demonstrated in Big Bash and IPL matches. He took 18 off fellow Trini Samuel Badree, in the very first over at a 300 strike rate. And of course, Narine remains an economical bowler in 20/20 and other formats of the game.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
