Sunil Narine entered one of the IPL’s most exclusive bowling clubs on Sunday, becoming the first overseas player to complete 200 wickets in the tournament during Kolkata Knight Riders’ match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Narine reached the landmark when he bowled Salil Arora during SRH’s innings, moving from 199 to 200 IPL wickets. He did not stop there. The KKR spinner then finished his spell with another wicket off the final ball of his four-over quota, removing Ishan Kishan to end with figures of 4-0-31-2.
The wicket of Arora made Narine only the third bowler in IPL history to reach the 200-wicket mark. Yuzvendra Chahal remains the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar had earlier become the first fast bowler to enter the 200-wicket club.
Narine’s entry is different because of the overseas layer. Several overseas bowlers have dominated the IPL across phases, but none had previously reached the 200-wicket mark. Dwayne Bravo, Lasith Malinga and Rashid Khan have all shaped the league’s bowling history, but Narine is now the first non-Indian cricketer to cross that line.
