The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) committee dealing with suspect bowling actions will take a decision on spinner Sunil Narine’s participation in this year’s IPL by Monday after the West Indian underwent a new testing process on his bowling.
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Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Narine’s action was reported as suspect during the Champions League T20 last year and had it tested again at the Sri Ramachandra Medical College, an ICC-accredited centre in Chennai, on Thursday.
This was despite the fact that his action had been cleared by the University of Loughborough in March. The BCCI said that if a player’s action has been reported, he must be tested once again to play in an Indian tournament.
“There is no rule which says that once a bowler gets his action cleared by a lab he can’t go through another round of testing to prove himself,” BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya had said on Wednesday.
Sunil Narine. Player Statistics. A Player, not just a captain or a batsman, but a whole Team is afraid of! #KKR pic.twitter.com/g1pOi99FyL
— KKR Knight Riders (@kkrofficial) March 30, 2015
After the BCCI gave the diktat, the Knight Riders management arranged for Narine to travel to India. The bowler reached Chennai on Thursday and undertook the tests in the presence of a top Knight Riders official and other experts before leaving for Kolkata in the evening.
“We can only say that he has undergone the tests. We cannot give any further details,” said a KKR official.
ESPNcricinfo reported that Narine appeared before BCCI’s committee comprising of former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath, former captain S Venkataraghavan and ex-international umpire AV Jayaprakash.
Srinath’s panel reportedly watched Narine’s bowling in real time and also put him through various tests with the entire process lasting for around two hours.
Narine’s action was reported in successive matches during last year’s Champions League T20. The 26-year-old later returned to competitive cricket in January this year with Trinidad and Tobago in the Nagico Super50, including a career-best six for nine in the final against Guyana.
It is believed that Narine took those wickets with a new bowling action, which he has been working on with the help of various experts like former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq.
Narine presence is crucial for KKR, who will play Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener on April 9 at Eden Gardens.
