Narine joins growing suspect action club
HYDERABAD: Barely an hour after their record-breaking victory in the Champions League T20 on Monday night against Dolphins, Kolkata Knight Riders received the shocking news that their bowling spearhead, Sunil Narine, has been reported for suspect bowling action.
Narine had returned to the hotel after claiming a matchwinning haul of three for 33, powering KKR to their 13th successive win. But the euphoria was short-lived.
He is the fourth bowler — all are spinners — to be reported for suspect bowling action in this CLT20 edition. Narine was reported by on-field umpires Anil Chaudhary and Chettihody Shamshuddin along with third umpire Kumar Dharmasena. The report against Narine relates specifically to his quicker delivery. ON NOTICE Under CLT20 guidelines, Narine may request an official assessment from the BCCI’s suspect bowling action committee. Narine has been placed on the tournament’s warning list but will still be able to bowl. However, if he is reported again while on the warning list, he will be suspended from bowling for the remainder of the tournament.
In 2011, Narine underwent remedial work on his bowling action at the University of Western Australia in Perth. His action has not come under scrutiny since. As part of the crackdown on erring bowlers, the ICC has recently mandated and empowered on-field umpires to report bowlers with suspect action. In the CLT20, the others reported are Adnan Rasool and Mohammad Hafeezof Lahore Lions and Dolphins’ Prenelan Subrayen.
Narine is the latest and the biggest name to be reported, coming as it does after the cricket world was rocked by Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal being suspended from bowling in international cricket.
“Under the CLT20 Suspected Illegal Bowling Action policy, if a player receives a report while on the warning list, the player shall be suspended from bowling for the remainder of the tournament and from bowling in any matches organised by the BCCI until such date as he is cleared. A player suspended from bowling may continue to be selected to play in matches, however he will not be entitle to bowl,” a CLT20 release said.
Was there enough awareness created amongst the teams on the subject of suspect action before the CLT20 began? The IPL COO, Sundar Raman, who is also one of the three technical committee members, countered: “Isn’t it quite natural that a bowler must bowl with a correct, permissible action? It is as simply understood as it can be. Whether big names or small names (are reported), how does it matter? We have nothing to do with it and have left it entirely to the on-field umpires who are mandated to take that decision.”
The KKR team management has declined comment on the issue.
As per CLT20 regulations, if a player is reported twice during the tournament, regardless of his nationality, he will have to be cleared by the BCCI suspect bowling action committee headed by former India captain and umpire, S Venkatara-ghavan.