IPL 2020: Sunil Narine cleared by IPL’s suspect bowling action committee
In a welcome respite for the Kolkata Knight Riders, off-spinner Sunil Narine has been cleared by IPL’s Suspect Bowling Action Committee, an IPL release dated October 18 confirmed. The Caribbean’s name has been taken off the suspect action warning list.
Following KKR’s match against the Kings XI Punjab at Abu Dhabi, Narine was reported for a suspect bowling action. The off-spinner was instrumental in his team’s victory with his controlled bowling at the death. However, after the match, he was placed on a warning list and the KKR management consequently dropped him from the playing XI. Although he could continue to bowl, Narine faced a suspension risk if he were to be reported for the second time.
Appeal for review
The Knight Riders then appealed to the Suspect Bowling Action Committee to review Narine’s action. Upon conducting a thorough review, the committee concluded that his action was well within the rules of the game. However, the committee declared that Narine should continue bowling with the action that he has submitted for review.
“KKR requested for an Official Assessment of Mr Narine’s action from the IPL Suspect Bowling Action Committee, submitting action footage in slow motion with back and side angles.
“The Committee carefully reviewed all the deliveries of action footage sent of Mr Narine with the naked eye and has come to the conclusion that the elbow-bend appears to be within the range of permissible limits,” the release stated.
“The Committee also noted that Mr. Narine should reproduce the same action going forward in the IPL 2020 matches as presented to the Committee in the video footage. Mr Narine has now been removed from the IPL Suspect Action Warning List,” added the release.
This is not the first time that Narine has been reported for his bowling. In the 2014 Champions League, he was reported twice. At the time, he had reached out to Englishman Carl Crowe to help him remodel his action. This time around, Narine once again approached Crowe for reworking his action so that he can accompany his teammates for the rest of the season.
