'It is a big miss to not have Sunil Narine but we are well placed': Kieron Pollard

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard admitted that all-rounder Sunil Narine would have been a huge asset for the team in 20-20 World Cup but feels his team still have plenty of quality and depth for the global event. West Indies begin their campaign against England on Saturday (October 23). Pollard sounded optimistic about the resources he has during the showpiece event and feels West Indies can go all the way.

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Speaking about Narine, he was one of the in-form players for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He took 16 wickets in 14 games for the franchise and was instrumental in taking the team to the finals. Pollard said they will miss the wicket-taking ability of the spinner during the showpiece event.

“In terms of Sunil Narine, obviously he’s a big miss for any team. It’s something that we sort of can’t question in terms of his ability and his talent on what he has achieved, not only in the IPL, what he has done in CPL, what he has done over the years as a spinner, maybe one of the greatest spinners, to play this format of the game. Yes, we accept it’s a big miss for us, and it’s something that as a team we would have liked to have,” said Pollard according to News 18.

The West Indies skipper also said it is necessary to move on from Narine’s absence and try to do well during the 20-20 World Cup. “It’s very, very unfortunate at this point in time, so for me, it’s not a matter of trying to harp on it, but we just have to deal with what’s in front of us of not having him, and trying to just go on and move on from this.”

Narine has not played for West Indies since August 2019 for various reasons, mainly because of the controversy surrounding his bowling action. He missed a slot in the West Indies squad for the 20-20 World Cup after “failing to meet Cricket West Indies’ (CWI) minimum fitness criteria".