HYDERABAD, India, CMC – West Indies off spinner Sunil Narine has been banned from bowling in the finals of the Champions League T20 tournament on Saturday.
Narine who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders was reported for a second time in two matches for a suspect action following Knight Rider’s semi-final victory over Hobart Hurricanes today.
He was reported by the umpires after Knight Riders had won by seven wickets to qualify for the finals.
Narine was already on the tournament’s warning list after he was also reported following Knight Riders final group match, against Dolphins.
The rules of the tournament state that rules a bowler is banned from bowling further in the tournament should be called a second time while still on the warning list.
A Champions League T20 release reported that umpires Rod Tucker, S Ravi and Vineet Kulkarni had reviewed footage of the semi-final and “felt that there was a flex action in Narine’s elbow beyond the acceptable limit when bowling during the match”.
Narine is expected to attend the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai, which has been accredited by the ICC as a testing centre for suspect bowling actions, to have his action tested.
The ban will not affect his duties with West Indies since it is confined only to the Champions League T20.
Narine, the fourth bowler to be reported in the tournament, after Lahore Lions’ Adnan Rasool and Mohammad Hafeez, and Dolphins’ Prenelan Subrayen, is the first bowler to be reported a second time.
His absence from the finals will be a major blow to Knight Riders who are seeking to secure the double of winning the IPL and the Champions League T20 in the same year.
