Ben Stokes and Yuvraj Singh are left-handed batsmen who can also bowl. However, Yuvraj fancies putting himself in the league of “bowlers who can bat” as he told Stokes when the latter expressed bewilderment at Sunil Narine being promoted ahead of Eoin Morgan by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their batting order against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday. “Narine before Morgan???” is what Stokes tweeted. Yuvraj had a cheeky reply mixed with some self-deprecating humour. “Yeah it's like yuvraj before stokes! Sometimes u got let the all-rounders go before, bowlers who can bat before a proper batsman to slog” Yuvraj replied.
While the “Yuvraj before Stokes” parlance for “Narine before Morgan” can be debated, KKR's move was slightly surprising.
Narine, who usually opens for KKR, was pushed down to No. 4 with Rahul Tripathi taking the openers slot with Shubman Gill.
It was expected that Narine would be used as a floater or even in the death as a finisher, but KKR thought otherwise by sending him in second down and Morgan followed Narine at No. 5.
However, Morgan usually bats in the middle order for England, too, and hence KKR's move was understandable.
Stokes is in the UAE and is quarantining after having arrived for the IPL late. He was in New Zealand with his ailing father.
Stokes' team, Rajasthan Royals, need the England all-rounder's presence in their line-up as they have slipped to the seventh spot after losing three of their five matches so far.
The 29-year-old has 635 runs and 26 wickets from 34 matches in the IPL, having made his debut in 2017.