Sunil Narine’s bowling action has been reported again, this time at the end of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ thrilling two-run win over the Kings XI Punjab in their 2020 IPL match in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Narine played a key role in the game, throwing the 18th and 20th overs in pursuit of Kings XI on their way to 2-for-28 returns.
“The report was prepared by the referees on the field [Ulhas Gandhe and Chris Gaffaney] in accordance with IPL’s Illegal Bowling Suspicious Action Policy, “said an IPL statement, adding that Narine would be placed” on the warning list “but allowed to bowl unless there was another report against him. If that happens, Narine will be “suspended from bowling” at the tournament until approved by the BCCI committee that deals with suspicious bowling actions.
Narine has also been in trouble with authorities for his bowling action in the past, most notably in November 2015, when he was reported after the third West Indies ODI against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. That was the first time Narine’s action bypassed the scan in an international game, although it had been reported twice during the now-defunct Champions League T20 in 2014, and as a result, he was forced to miss the final match of the Knight Riders against the Chennai Super Kings.
He returned with a restyled action shortly after, but opted to skip the 2015 50-year World Cup saying the comeback would be “too soon”. Narine was subsequently reported during the 2015 IPL, when he was cleared to bowl, then reported and sent for retest, then his offspring were banned from bowling, and finally cleared again with a “warning final”.
Narine’s action was reported again during the 2018 edition of the Pakistan Super League, but he was acquitted shortly after.
Narine has been a part of the Knight Riders setup since he joined the team in 2012, when his 24 wickets at a 5.47 economy rate went a long way in helping the team win the IPL for the first time. He also had a good year in 2013, picking up 22 wickets with an economy rate of 5.46, although the Knight Riders had a hard time. Their 21 wickets (economy 6.35) were crucial again in 2014 when they won the title for the second and final time to date.
More recently, Narine has added the top-order pop-up to his repertoire and contributed significantly to Knight Riders’ campaigns in 2017 (224 runs, strike index 172.3), 2018 (357 runs, strike index 189.89) and 2019 (143 runs , strike rate 166.27) with the bat, but he had been out of the boil this season and has been pushed down the order. With the ball, he has taken five wickets in six games so far, with a strike rate of 26.4 and an economy of 8.09.
.
