Kolkata Knight Riders offspinner Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action following his side’s 36-run win over Dolphins in the Champions League Twenty20 Group A match on Monday evening in Hyderabad.
The charge was laid by on-field umpires Anil Chaudhary and Chettihody Shamshuddin along with third umpire Kumar Dharmasena and specifically relates to Narine’s quicker ball. Under CLT20 guidelines, Narine may request for 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 play. However, if he is reported again while still on the warning list, he will be suspended from bowling for the remainder of the tournament.
Narine claimed figures of 3 for 33 in his four-over spell during the win over Dolphins. The Knight Riders next match will be in the tournament semi-finals on October 2. He is the fourth bowler to be reported during the tournament, joining Mohammed Hafeez and Adnan Rasool of Lahore Lions and Prenelan Subrayen of Dolphins. Being reported in the CLT20 has no impact on a bowler’s participation in international cricket.
Narine is currently the leading wicket-taker in this year’s CLT20 with 11 wickets in four games at an average of 7.45, also the best in the tournament. He also has the most wickets in the six-year history of the CLT20, accumulating 38 in 19 matches, eight more than Dwayne Bravo and Doug Bollinger. Narine’s career bowling average of 8.81 in the CLT20 is almost a full eight runs better than Lasith Malinga, the next best bowler on the list who holds average of 16.40 for his 25 wickets, while Narine’s CLT20 career economy rate of 4.61 is more than a full run better than Brett Lee in second place at 5.71.
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