Simon Doull has hinted that Sunil Narine was bowling with an illegal action in Kolkata Knight Riders’ IPL 2024 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday (March 23).
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Narine was the game-changer in KKR’s nervy four-run win against SRH on Saturday, conceding 1-19 in his four overs. In a game where over 400 runs were scored and every other bowler had an economy rate of at least eight, Narine did not concede a single boundary in the game and his spell was crucial in the end as KKR defended 208 in the last over.
In a game where over 400 runs were scored and every other bowler gave at least eight runs an over, Sunil Narine ended with an economy rate of 4.8. 😵💫
He did not concede a single boundary in a match where 54 boundaries were hit. 😵💫#IPL2024 #KKRvsSRH pic.twitter.com/smAIIe2k09
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) March 23, 2024
Narine, who has played for KKR since 2012, has struggled with a suspect bowling action in the past, first missing the final of the 2014 Champions League T20 after his arm was found to be bending more than the permissible 15 degrees. A year later, he was suspended from bowling in international cricket. He was cleared for bowling in all formats of domestic and international cricket in 2016.
His bowling action was reported again during the 2018 Pakistan Super League and then again midway through the 2020 Indian Premier League. He was cleared soon after on both occasions, remodelling his bowling action.
A regular in T20 franchise cricket, Narine last played for the West Indies in 2019 and announced his international retirement last year.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Doull suggested Narine has gone back to his previous bowling action, with less scrutiny on him in franchise cricket than there would be internationally.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Doull said, “Brilliant from Narine [his spell against SRH]. He assesses situations. He had a little bit of time when he got called for throwing. He 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.”
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