After eight years, Sunil Narine has decided to end his international career. August 2019 was his last T20I match as a player for the West Indies.
“I appreciate it has been over four years since I last played for West Indies but today I am announcing my retirement from international cricket,” Narine posted to Instagram. “Publicly I am a man of few words but privately there are a few people who have given me unwavering support throughout my career and helped me realise my dream of representing West Indies and to you I express my deepest gratitude.”
Before making his debut for Trinidad & Tobago in an ODI in December of the same year, Narine gained notoriety in the now-defunct Champions League T20. 122 international matches were played by him; these comprised 65 ODIs, 51 T20Is, and 6 Tests. With nine wickets in the competition, he contributed to the 2012 West Indies T20 World Cup victory, their first World Cup victory in any format since 1979. In 2014, he would participate in just one more T20 World Cup.
Narine has been a consistent member of the Kolkata Knight Riders team since 2012. He is now well-known around the T20 international circuit, and for the foreseeable future, this will be “business as usual” for him. He is still playing for the Knight Riders teams in the Major League Cricket (MLLC) in Los Angeles, the Caribbean Premier League’s Trinbago, the IPL’s KKR, and the International League T20’s Abu Dhabi. In addition, he plays in the Bangladesh Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash League, and the Hundred men’s competition for Oval Invincibles.
Narine withdrew from the ODI World Cup the following year after he was initially reported for acting suspiciously in 2014. That contributed to his irregular overseas appearances.
Narine, who is 35 years old, is also aiming for a domestic trophy.
“[My father] is ever present with me when I take to the field and I am indebted to his support and love, which carried me through the times I questioned whether the pursuit of my dreams was really worth it,” he wrote in his letter. “I love representing Trinidad & Tobago, the country of my birth, and to add another title by winning the Super50 Cup will be the perfect send-off.”
His final match in List A cricket will be the current Super50 Cup.
