HYDERABAD, India, CMC – Umpires in the ongoing Champions League Twenty20 have reported West Indies mystery off-spinner Sunil Narine for having a suspected illegal action.
The report, which relates specifically to his faster delivery, was lodged by on-field umpires Anil Chaudhary and Chettithody Shamshuddin, along with third umpire Kumar Dharamsena, following Kolkata Knight Riders’ 36-run victory over Dolphins at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here yesterday.
Trinidadian Narine has so far picked up 11 wickets for the Indian Premier League franchise, KKR, which has played unbeaten in the group phase of the CLT20 to qualify for the semi-finals.
A CLT20 media statement said that Narine would now be placed on a “warning list” but would be free to continue playing for KKR.
The statement also said that Narine could request an official assessment from the Bowling Action Committee of the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), who are organisers off the tournament. However, the media statement said that if Narine received another report while on the warning list, he would be suspended from bowling.
“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,” the statement said.
“A player suspended from bowling may continue to be selected to play in matches, however he will not be entitled to bowl.”
Narine has been outstanding during the tournament and his tournament-leading 11 wickets have been key to KKR’s recent dominance where they have now won 13 straight matches in all T20 competitions.
KKR are the reigning IPL champions after beating Kings XI Punjab in the final last June.
He is ranked number two in the ICC one-day and Twenty20 bowling rankings.
Narine is the fourth bowler to be reported so far in the CLT20 following Mohammed Hafeez, Adnan Rasool and Prenelan Subrayen.