Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan revealed why KKR did not include Sunil Narine in the Playing XI against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL 2020 match in Abu Dhabi on Sunday despite the West Indies all-rounder’s bowling action being cleared by the IPL committee.
Morgan said Narine was not a 100% fit and the KKR management did not want to risk him keeping the rest of the tournament in mind.
“Yes, he’s (Narine) progressing nicely, obviously nice to have him back. Unfortunately, today he’s not a 100% physically fit so we don’t wanna rush him on that regard. We want him for the rest of the tournament. So hopefully we’ll have him back sooner rather than later,” said Morgan at the toss.
Narine was reported for suspected chucking during a game on October 10 and another report would have resulted in a bowling ban from this season’s tournament.
Kolkata appealed to the IPL’s suspect bowling action committee to review Narine’s action.
“KKR requested for an Official Assessment of Mr Narine’s action from the IPL Suspect Bowling Action Committee, submitting action footage in slow motion with back and side angles,” the IPL said in a statement hours before Kolkata’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“The Committee carefully reviewed all the deliveries of action footage sent of Mr Narine with the naked eye and has come to the conclusion that the elbow-bend appears to be within the range of permissible limits.”
“Narine should reproduce the same action going forward in the IPL 2020 matches as presented to the Committee in the video footage,” the statement added.
KKR made two changes to their Playing XI. New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson was brought into the Playing XI for the first time this year in place Chris Green. Kuldeep Yadav too got his spot back in the side in place of Prasidh Krishna.
Source: IPLT20.com