Exclusive: 2012 or 2014 or 2024? Sunil Narine picks KKR's best IPL title-winning campaign

Sunil Narine has been part of KKR’s all IPL title-winning campaigns.

The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin on Saturday, March 22, with the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, KKR ended their decade-long wait for third IPL title in 2024. However, in a surprise move, the franchise decided to let go of Iyer ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.

The management then retained Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Ramandeep Singh.

KKR then signed some exciting international talents for the upcoming season including Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Just days before the start of IPL 2025, KKR’s star all-rounder Sunil Narine revealed his favourite IPL title-winning campaign.

Sunil Narine picks KKR’s best IPL title-winning campaign

Sunil Narine, who has been part of the Kolkata-based franchise since his IPL debut in 2012, is the only player from the franchise to be a part of their title-winning squads in 2012, 2014 and 2024.

When asked to pick as his best title-winning campaign, the IPL 2024 MVP went with 2012 edition. He further explained why it was the best IPL title win for KKR, in his view.

“For me, well.. it will always be the first (2012). I think it was my first season in the IPL. The atmosphere IPL had that time was mind-blowing. Obviously, winning three titles is a great thing, but the first one will be always special,” Narine told Khel Now at an event organized by PariMatch.

Narine played a key role for KKR in the 2012 season, taking 24 wickets in 15 matches at an economy rate of just 5.47, which helped him win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He continued his brilliance with the ball in 2014, picking up 21 wickets at an average of 19 and an economy rate of 6.3.

Narine since then has transformed as a genuine all-rounder. In KKR’s title win in 2024, he contributed with 17 wickets at an economy of less than seven and also scored 488 runs with the bat, including a century. His performance last year earned him his third MVP award in the IPL history.

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