The difficult mission of Sunil Narine: four games, two continents, and 75 hours

To fulfill his T20 obligations this weekend, playing for Surrey in the Vitality Blast and the LA Knight Riders in the inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC), Sunil Narine is undertaking a 9,000-mile roundtrip journey across the Atlantic.

Sunil Narine has participated in each of Surrey’s 15 Blast games since arriving in the UK six weeks ago after the IPL concluded. With 20 kills, he leads the team in wicket-taking, and he has also recovered his batting form, averaging 22.55 with a strike rate of 159.84.

After taking part in Surrey’s victory over Lancashire in the quarterfinals on Friday night in Manchester, Narine took a flight to the US. He will captain the LA Knight Riders, his fourth Knight Riders franchise after Kolkata, Trinbago, and Abu Dhabi, on Thursday’s MLC opening night in Dallas against the Texas Super Kings.

In time for Surrey’s Blast semifinal match against Somerset, which begins at 2.30 p.m. at Edgbaston, Surrey anticipates that Narine will be back in the UK on Saturday morning. If they triumph, they will play either Essex or Hampshire in the championship game later that evening.

In order to make it back in time for LAKR’s second game on Sunday night, Narine would then depart for Dallas once more. If Surrey makes it to the Blast final, Narine might play four games in a span of 75 hours, of which about 18 would be spent on transatlantic flights.

Although there is still a potential that Narine’s schedule could change, Surrey’s captain Chris Jordan told ESPNcricinfo that “that’s the plan.” He continued, “His schedule is quite tight, but that’s where franchise cricket is right now. I’ve played it quite a bit myself, so I am aware of its difficulties. However, once you make the commitment, everything else is simple.

Jordan described Narine as a “very committed guy” and a “very committed cricketer.” “You only need to observe the eagerness with which he dives into practice to know that he enjoys batting and bowling, honing his skills, and competing against other players. He’s my personal Swiss Army knife because he can handle any circumstance at any time.

Players have previously made similar journeys for Blast Finals Day. For instance, in 2019, Alex Hales and Harry Gurney both returned from the Caribbean Premier League to play for Nottinghamshire, and the following day, they both took a flight back to Barbados.

The amount of Narine’s possible commute may be unprecedented, although many players also hopped from event to tournament on short notice during the busy period from November 2022 to February 2023, when several franchise leagues were running simultaneously.