Spinners, surface in the spotlight as Delhi Capitals takes on Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR's Narine and Chakravarthy prep for crucial IPL match against DC, aiming to boost team's performance with spin bowling.

An hour before Kolkata Knight Riders’ practice session was officially scheduled to begin at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy made their way to the middle and went about their bowling drills on a side pitch for close to an hour. Without a batter at the other end, the two mystery bowlers were directed to hit spots on the good and full lengths, on which orange markers were placed, under the gaze of spin bowling coach Carl Crowe.

It served as a prelude to the instrumental roles they may have to play when KKR faces Delhi Capitals in the IPL on Tuesday. Particularly if the surface plays anything like the one that was used for Sunday’s game between DC and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, KKR will hope for its two main spinners to step up and make it count. So far this season, both have logged decent numbers without having a decisive say.

In nine matches, Varun, who classifies himself as a leg-spinner, has claimed 11 scalps at an economy of 6.85. Narine has taken just seven wickets in eight matches while conceding 7.75 runs per over. KKR, which is languishing with three wins in nine matches, is in desperate need of a morale-booster.

On account of the potential threat posed by Narine and Varun, DC mentor Kevin Pietersen said after the defeat to RCB that his team wouldn’t want a similar pitch.

In Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Vipraj Nigam, the host does have the spinners to trouble the KKR batters. But for the likes of K.L. Rahul, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair and Tristan Stubbs in DC’s batting unit, a sluggish pitch isn’t conducive to the nature of their strokeplay.