The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) legend Sunil Narine delivered an exceptional performance against the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 31st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, April 16.

Sunil Narine slammed his maiden ton in T20 cricket as he took the RR bowlers to the cleaners. He finished his innings with a score of 109 in 56 balls. Narine’s innings was studded with 13 fours and 6 sixes and he helped the Knight Riders post 223/6 on the board.

The 35-year-old became the first player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to have a century as well as a five-wicket haul to his name. He also became just the third player from West Indies after Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons to hit an IPL ton.

The batting performance against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) made Sunil Narine the third cricketer in IPL history after Rohit Sharma and Shane Warne to score a century and bag a hat-trick.

He gave me the confidence and his assurance – Sunil Narine on Gautam Gambhir 

Speaking during the mid-innings break Sunil Narine credited KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir for giving him confidence to open the innings for the team. Sunil Narine said:

“(At the start of the season if anyone had told him he’d be in the race for the Orange cap) I would have taken it as a joke because I haven’t opened in such a long time or done much with the bat in the years past. (Opening this year) With GG (Gambhir) coming back, he gave me the confidence and his assurance that I’ll open the batting. 

Talking about his mindset, Narine said that he just thinks about providing his team with flying starts as wasting powerplay could hurt them in the backend of the innings. He said:

“(Mindset) The job is just to go out there and try to give a good start, whatever the situation is, still keep going because if you try to face dot balls in the powerplay, it could hurt you in the backend. So just go there and try to give your team a good start. “

Sunil Narine admitted that bowling on the Eden Gardens track would not be easy for KKR bowlers. Sunil Narine said:

“We have an understanding about it, it’s not going to be easy (bowling here), we have to make use of the powerplay, pick up early, wickets and make sure that we control in the middle and try to restrict them.”

When asked about his previous comments on playing T20 World Cup 2024, Sunil Narine said that he would wait and see what the future holds for him. Sunil Narine asserted:

“(“I will be watching it from home, Badree,” were Narine’s words after previous match when asked if he could make it to the T20 WC. When asked about that statement today) It is what it is, we’ll have to see what the future holds.”