Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday scraped through a close 4-run victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their season opener. In a high-scoring match where 400+ runs were scored, Sunil Narine was economical as usual, giving away just 19 runs in his four overs while picking up a wicket. However, Simon Doull has invited controversy over the bowler’s bowling action, claiming Narine has gone back to bowling with an illegal action.
Narine’s previous troubles
Playing for KKR since 2012, Narine has previously suffered with a questionable bowling action. His arm was discovered to be bending more than the allowed 15 degrees, which caused him to miss the 2014 Champions League T20 final. He was barred from bowling in international cricket one year later. In 2016, he received clearance to bowl in all domestic and international cricket formats.
He was again called out for his bowling action in the Pakistan Super League in 2018 and again in the middle of the Indian Premier League in 2020. He changed his bowling motion after being cleared shortly after on both occasions.
A regular in T20 franchise cricket, Narine last played for the West Indies in 2019 and announced his international retirement last year.
Narine subject to less scrutiny now: Doull
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Doull said that Narine has returned to his former bowling style, where he is subject to less scrutiny in franchise cricket than he would be on the international scene.
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“Brilliant from Narine [his spell against SRH]. He assesses situations. He had a little bit of time when he got called for throwing. Narine was under the pump a little bit, he has remodelled his action a touch. He knows now, not playing international cricket, I think he knows he’s not going to be called anymore. He knows that’s not a problem for him, so he’s probably gone back a little bit to the old action in some way, shape or form. He’s actually getting more purchase. He was one of the few that actually got a little bit of assistance out of the track tonight,” Doull said.
