Sunil Narine has been barred from bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League T20 final on Saturday after being reported for a second time in two matches for a suspect action. He was reported by the umpires after Thursday’s semi-final against Hobart Hurricanes, which Knight Riders won by seven wickets. He had also been reported following their final group match, against Dolphins, when the umpires questioned his quicker delivery.
According to a Champions League T20 release, umpires Rod Tucker, S Ravi and Vineet Kulkarni reviewed footage of the semi-final and “felt that there was a flex action in Narine’s elbow beyond the acceptable limit when bowling during the match”. He had already been on the tournament’s warning list and, since he had not subsequently had his action cleared, is now automatically banned from bowling further in the tournament.
Knight Riders will now be “advised” to send Narine to the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai – which has been accredited by the ICC as a testing centre for suspect bowling actions – to have his action tested.
The bowling ban will not affect his West Indies duties, though – it is confined only to the Champions League T20 and other BCCI-organised tournaments, including the IPL.
