Agencies
Kolkata, April 30
The future is looking increasingly cloudy for Sunil Narine, who was banned from bowling offbreaks in the Indian Premier League 2015 on Wednesday, after it emerged that the ban on the West Indian spinner extends to international cricket as well.
Narine, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders, had sought a biomechanical analysis of his remodelled bowling action at the Sri Ramachandra Arthroscopy and Sports Science Centre in Chennai after being reported for a dodgy action during the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam on April 22. On Wednesday, a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) statement confirmed that while he was permitted to bowl variations, including the knuckle ball and the quicker delivery, he was barred from bowling his offspinners. If he continued to bowl them, Narine risked being suspended from bowling in BCCI-organised matches.
When Wisden India checked with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday (April 30), it was confirmed that the ban applied to international cricket too, following the decision taken during the ICC board meeting on April 16 in Dubai.
During the meeting, a provision was added to the laws that enabled the ICC to recognise suspensions "as long as the bowler had been assessed by the member country using the ICC testing protocol at an ICC-accredited testing centre".
Narine, who has now been reported thrice in six months in a BCCI-run tournament, faces international suspension if the on-field umpires in the Pepsi IPL 2015 report him again.
Narine was earlier called twice during the Champions League Twenty20 2014 and was barred from bowling in the final, but, at the time, the ban wasn't recognised by the ICC. Narine also skipped West Indies' tour of India in late 2014 and later withdrew from their World Cup squad, opting to work on remodeling his action instead.
Narine is now free to take corrective measures at an accredited facility before applying for another official assessment.
So far in the ongoing season of the IPL, Narine has returned two wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 8.08 and was left out to accommodate Brad Hogg during Kolkata's away clash against Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday.
