IPL 2020: KKR’s Sunil Narine cleared of illegal bowling action

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine has been cleared of having a suspect bowling action a week after being reported for chucking, confirmed an IPL statement. Narine is available for KKR's game on Sunday afternoon against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“Narine has been cleared by the IPL’s Suspect Bowling Action Committee. Narine was reported for bowling with a Suspected Illegal Bowling Action during his team’s Dream 11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match against Kings XI Punjab at Abu Dhabi on October 10. Following the report, Narine was placed on the IPL Warning List,” an IPL statement read.

However, Sunil Narine has been asked to continue bowling with the same action as shown in the video footage submitted to the committee. The development came to light after KKR requested for an official assessment of Sunil Narine’s action.

“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. 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.

“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...Narine has now been removed from the IPL Suspect Action Warning List,” the official statement added.

Sunil Narine has failed to perform up to his potential in IPL 2020

Sunil Narine's poor performances have got pundits doubting his effectiveness (Credits: IPLT20.com)

The news comes as a much-needed boost for KKR as Sunil Narine will most probably replace off-spinner Chris Green in their line-up for today's encounter. However, it is unlikely that the West Indian will be given a free license to try and maximize the fielding restrictions in the powerplay with the bat.

Check out IPL 2020 schedule

Head coach Brendon McCullum and co would want to persist with Rahul Tripathi at the top of the order following Narine's failure to replicate his batting exploits from previous IPL seasons this year.

Sunil Narine has taken five wickets and scored a meagre 44 runs in six matches so far in IPL 2020.