Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Sunil Narine, who was reported for the suspect bowling action by umpires in the side's previous clash, has been cleared by the Bowling Action Committee of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
On October 10,the Caribbean all-rounder was reported for suspect bowling action during the Eoin Morgan-led side's narrow two-run victory over KL Rahul-led Kings XI Punjab at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Narine was then replaced by Australian off-spinner Chris Green in KKR's next IPL 2020 tie against defending champions Mumbai Indians.Interestingly, Green too has a history of suspect action as he was suspended from bowling for 90 days in Cricket Australia-sanctioned competitions after being reported by umpires for an illegal action during a Big Bash League match in January this year.
However, an official statement from the IPL has now confirmed that Narine has been removed from the tournament's warning list.
The bowling committee of this year's tournament carefully reviewed all the deliveries in action footage of Narine and it was found that the spinner's elbow-bend was well within the range of permissible limits.
"KKR requested for an Official Assessment of 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 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 official statement said.
The bowling committee, however, has asked Narine to produce the same action going forward in the IPL matches as presented in the footage.
It may be recalled that Narine has been reported for suspect bowling action in the past too. In 2014, a similar incident took place when Narine's suspect bowling action was reported twice during Champions League.
Subsequently, Narine was asked to work on his action and forced to miss the 2015 ICC World Cup. In the same year, he was once again reported for suspect bowling action during the IPL and was suspended by the ICC in November 2015.
Narine has worked on his action also and has changed his action completely but it seems that he needs to work more on his action in order to bowl without any trouble in the future.
On a related note, KKR will next lock horns with Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their next clash of the ongoing season of the cash-rich league on October 21.
