Narine reported for suspect action again

Kolkata Knight Riders offspinner Sunil Narine has been reported once again for a suspect action following the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 22 in Visakhapatnam.

An IPL release said that Narine "will still be eligible to bowl in forthcoming IPL matches" and that he "may request a biomechanical analysis of the deliveries in question at the ICC and BCCI accredited testing facility, the Sri Ramachandra Arthroscopy and Sports Science Centre in Chennai."

Narine was first reported for a suspect action during the Champions League Twenty20 in October 2014, following Knight Riders' group game against Dolphins. He was allowed to play their next game, the semi-final against Hobart Hurricanes, but all 24 deliveries of his spell were called suspect by the on-field umpires, meaning he was banned from bowling in the final, against Chennai Super Kings.

Consequently, Narine skipped West Indies' tour of India later that month, and informed the WICB about handling the rehabilitation process on his own. Despite not having played any competitive cricket since then, Narine was surprisingly picked by Clive Lloyd's selection panel in West Indies' World Cup squad on January 11 and two weeks later, he clocked his best bowling performance in List-A cricket, picking 6 for 9 to help Trinidad & Tobago to the NAGICO 50-over title.

Narine, though, withdrew from the World Cup squad on January 27, stating that he did not want to rush back, and instead focused on remodeling his action, working with a very small group of coaches including former Pakistan offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq.

In early March, Narine underwent tests at the ICC accredited centre at University of Loughborough and got a positive nod from the experts. However, when the clearance report from the Loughborough centre was submitted for review and clearance from BCCI's sub-committee dealing with corrective actions, the board wrote back to Knight Riders saying Narine would have to clear another round of tests at the Sri Ramachandra University centre if he was to play in the IPL. It meant the BCCI was effectively cancelling the Loughborough report.

While Knight Riders questioned how the board could discredit a report from an ICC-approved centre, the BCCI maintained that they were merely making their own assessment to be adequately convinced with the bowler's action. Despite the protest from his team, Narine eventually took the retest and was granted a clean chit by a panel comprising former India captain S Venkataraghavan, former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath, and ex-international umpire AV Jayaprakash. Upon being cleared, a BCCI press release stated that Narine had "recommended to the BCCI that his name may be removed from the warning list of bowlers with suspect actions".

Since reworking his action, Narine has been extracting substantially lesser turn than before, and picked up only two wickets at an average of 73.50 from five IPL matches this season.