26 April,2015 02:03 AM IST | | Arup Chatterjee
Kolkata Knight Riders have wasted no time in sending Sunil Narine to the ICC-accredited laboratory in Chennai for tests following fresh frowns from match officials over his bowling action
Sunil Narine
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders have wasted no time in sending Sunil Narine to the ICC-accredited laboratory in Chennai for tests following fresh frowns from match officials over his bowling action.
Sunil Narine
Team sources confirmed that the West Indian 'mystery spinner' was tested at the Sri Ramachandra Arthroscopy and Sports Science Centre on Saturday. KKR's bowling coach Wasim Akram and analyst AR Srikkanth were with him.
Narine, coming back to competitive cricket with 'remodeled' action after being called last November, had concern being expressed over "four to five deliveries" he bowled during Wednesday's loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rain-affected match at Vizag.
While the key strike-bowler is expected back in time for today's battle with Rajasthan Royals, KKR's team management is on the horns of a dilemma. Do they field Narine against the table-toppers on his happy hunting ground or do they keep away from the risk of further damage. If he is called again, he will be barred from the rest of IPL-8.
Narine's available: Gauti
"He is available, but we will have to take a call on whether we play him before the reports are out. They should be available in 48 hours," skipper Gautam Gambhir said at Saturday's pre-match media interaction, conceding that the turn of events was "unsettling for both the player and the squad".
"We sent him immediately because we want to get this out of the system. We want to play freely, and keep this (doubt) out of our mind." A similar dilemma during the Champions League T20 in November saw KKR field Narine in the semi-finals, when he was called again and had to miss the final.
Ironically, he was cleared by BCCI's committee on suspect action - comprising former India spinner S Venkatraghavan, former India pacer Javagal Srinath and former international umpire AV Jayaprakash - just days before the IPL began after his remodelled action was tested at the Chennai facility. He and his team are back into that dark room of doubts.
