IPL-17 | I knew Sunil Narine would be a Twenty20 legend, says Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir praises Sunil Narine as the greatest IPL bowler, recalling his early potential and impact on KKR.

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir says Sunil Narine is perhaps the greatest bowler in IPL and he had an inkling that the West Indian will develop into a legend of T20 cricket when he made his ODI debut against India way back in 2011.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders skipper and now team mentor has revealed that he decided to rope Narine for the IPL after seeing the West Indian during his debut series in 2011. "I must have faced seven or eight deliveries and I thought this is the guy who is going to go out there and become the legend of the game, especially in T20 cricket," Gambhir said in KKR Knights Dugout Podcast.

"See where is Sunil Narine now? Probably the greatest bowler in IPL history," he said.

Narine has taken 170 wickets in his IPL career and has also scored 1322 runs so far, including a century, from 168 matches he has played in the League.

He made his ODI debut against India in the third ODI in Ahmedabad in December 2011 where he returned with figures of 2/34, dismissing Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin.

But it was only during the fourth ODI in Indore that Gambhir faced Narine for the first time. Narine returned wicket-less with 0/46 from his six overs but Gambhir had made up his mind that the Trinidadian would become his go-to bowler in the IPL 2012. Narine emerged as a mystery bowler for KKR, claiming 24 wickets in 2012, the second-highest behind Morne Morkel's 25, to help KKR clinch their maiden IPL crown in 2012.

In 2014 too when they won their second title, Narine was their second highest wicket-taker finishing with 21 scalps. Gambhir then tapped into Narine's batting potential and promoted him to open for KKR.