Powell wants Narine for T20 World Cup

KOLKATA, India (CMC):

West Indies Twenty20 captain Rovman Powell said yesterday he was attempting to convince in-form Sunil Narine to come out of retirement for June's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States.

The 35-year-old Narine quit international cricket last year, after having not turned out for the Caribbean side for four years.

However, he confirmed his stellar all-round form in the Indian Premier League yesterday with a sublime 109 and a brace of wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders, in a losing effort against Rovman Powell's Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens.

"For the last 12 months, I've been whispering in Sunil's ear but he's blocked out everyone," said Powell who will lead West Indies into the June 1-29 tournament.

"I've asked his closest friends - I've asked (Kieron) Pollard, I've asked (Dwayne) Bravo, I've asked Nicholas Pooran to have a talk with him so, hopefully, before we select the team they can crack his skull."

The left-handed Narine is averaging 46 with a strike-rate of nearly 188 this season at the top of the order, and has already taken seven wickets at 23 runs apiece with his off-spin, for which he is better known.

He featured in West Indies' capture of their first T20 World Cup title in 2012 and was again present when they reached the semi-finals in 2014.

However, Narine pulled out of the squad for the 2016 edition in India when West Indies won their second title, but returned to play a handful of games later that year against India and Pakistan.

When asked yesterday about his international future, the Trinidadian remained coy.

"It is what it is but we'll have to see what the future holds," Narine said.

The veteran off-spinner has featured in 504 T20s and taken 542 runs. In recent years, he has reinvented himself as an all-rounder and has gathered 4,010 runs at a strike-rate of nearly 150, with 15 fours and one hundred.

For West Indies, he has taken 52 wickets from 51 T20 Internationals.