T&T and West Indies mystery spinner Sunil Narine has been bowled an unplayable delivery by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over his future in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).
Reports coming out of India suggest that the BCCI wants Narine to undergo a test on his bowling action by one of their approved testing centres despite the fact that he has been cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC) approved centre in England.
Narine has been contracted by the Kolkata Knight Riders for the Eighth edition IPL and the franchise has threatened to pull out if the player has to undergo another test. Narine was called for an alleged illegal bowling action during the Champions League T20 tournament in India last October. He was called twice during the tournament and had to miss the final against Chennai Super Kings.
Since then, Narine has taken himself away from international cricket to work on his action. He missed the West Indies tour of India after the Champions League, as well as the tour to South Africa and also to ICC 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
During his time away Narine played for T&T Red Force in the Nagico Super50 series, where he bowled them to victory in the finals with a six-wicket haul. However, since then, his appearances on the cricket field have been limited to Queen's Park in domestic cricket. His manager at Queen's Park, Jeffrey Guillen told the T&T Guardian yesterday: "We are extremely disappointed over what has transpired concerning Sunil Narine. He has worked very hard in correcting his action and just a few weeks ago, travelled to England, where he was cleared by an approved ICC centre.
"Now this call by the BCCI to have him tested again is ludicrous. The IPL is a tournament that has to be sanctioned by the ICC and falls under their umbrella. Although, the IPL is a domestic tournament held by the BCCI, it still has to be sanctioned by the ICC, so I cannot understand, what they are saying. If the ICC approves this man, then they should follow suit and allow him to play. I am hoping that good sense prevails in this situation and that Narine will be allowed play."
In any event Guillen said that he is confident that Narine will pass any test he has to do again: "Sunil has worked very hard and he will pass any test they want to have him do again. I just think that it is unfair to have him take the test again at this point.
"I spoke to him the night before in St Lucia and he is doing well and looking forward to being part of the IPL." (VM)