IPL 2020: Sunil Narine reported for suspect bowling action again

Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspect bowling action after Kolkata Knight Riders' win against Kings XI Punjab on Saturday (10th October). KKR edged KXIP by 2 runs in Abu Dhabi, and Narine played a crucial role in the victory.

"The report was made by the on-field umpires according to the IPL's Suspected Illegal Bowling Action Policy, Narine will be placed on the Warning List and is permitted to continue to bowl in the tournament," the Indian Premier League release mentioned.

As of now, the spinner has only been added to the warning list and will be suspended from bowling only if he is reported one more time in the tournament.

Narine has been instrumental in the past two matches for the Knight Riders, bowling the death overs and leading his team to unlikely victories over Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab. However, he has been poor with the bat, and has managed just 44 runs in 5 innings so far. The West Indian all-rounder also lost his opening slot in the batting order.

Narine has been reported several times in the past

Narine has been having issues with his bowling action since 2014. He was reported in late 2014 and had to rework his bowling action, due to which he missed the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015. He was again reported for suspected illegal action in the 2015 edition of the IPL.

The West Indian was suspended from bowling in late 2015, and as a result, he missed the 2016 World T20 in India. The ICC cleared Narine's action in 2016, but he was again reported in the Pakistan Super League in 2018.

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This comes as a huge blow for KKR as another overseas star Andre Russell suffered an injury scare against KXIP while trying to save a boundary, and didn't bowl in the match. The 2-time champions face the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Sharjah on Monday (12th October).