Cape Town – Sunil Narine, the world's top ranked Twenty20 bowler, will play for the Cape Cobras in this season's T20 competition starting in January.
“The financial rewards in T20 are huge and, financially, the short-term challenge is to balance the books,” Cobras CEO Andre Odendaal said in Cape Town on Tuesday.
“We have to be competitive. I'd say we can't do without an overseas professional and we were very lucky that Narine will join us after the West Indies tour of New Zealand in mid-January.”
The 25-year-old Trinidad and Tobago offspinner, easily recognisable by his trademark Mohawk hairstyle, had been in devastating form over the past few months.
He had taken 124 wickets in 93 games, including two four-wicket hauls in the last week at the ICC Champions Trophy in India.
He was named the ICC’s (International Cricket Conference) Emerging Player of the Year for 2012 and Player of the Tournament 2012 IPL.
Cobras coach Paul Adams said, after studying the congested international fixture list, it dawned on him Narine would be available to play in Cape Town.
“He is something of a mystery, something different,” said Adams. “He's one of the top players in the Champions League and the world's best T20 bowler.
“We'll be glad to have him around and hopefully some of his abilities can rub off on our squad. I'm sure our players can also learn a great deal from the way he goes about his game.” –Sapa