Narine taken off IPL’s suspected illegal bowling action warning list

Abu Dhabi, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Sunil Narine, who was reported and warned for suspect action after the match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on October 10, has been cleared by the Suspect Bowling Action Committee in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Though KKR won that match against KXIP by two runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Narine, who bowled the last over, was placed on the IPL warning list.

After that, 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.

As reported by IANS earlier, a video analyst’s footage instead of a 3D biomechanical test was used by the committee to find fault in his action.

Because of Covid-19, the BCCI waived off a requirement for 3D biomechanical test, usually a necessity with the official assessment.

“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,” IPL stated in a media release on Sunday.

“The committee also noted that Narine should reproduce the same action going forward in the IPL 2020 matches as presented to the committee in the video footage,” the release added.

It should be noted that there was no Suspect Bowling Action Committee before this incident or if there was, no mention of it was made anywhere.

Interestingly, while the board mentioned that Narine has been cleared, it did not mention who all comprised the committee.

The 32-year-old was reported for suspect action back in 2014 too while playing for KKR during the now-scrapped Champions League T20 tournament.