Dubai:West Indian Sunil Narine's action has been cleared by the ICC following remedial work and retest and the off-spinner can now resume bowling in both international and domestic cricket events worldwide, the development coming as a shot in the arm for IPL outfit Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
However the mystery spinner may still be in doubt for KKR's first match against Delhi Daredevils on April 10, having returned to the West Indies following the death of his father.
The ICC confirmed Narine's action has been found to be legal barely two before the start of Indian Premier League where he plays for KKR. At the retest, it was revealed that the amount of elbow extensions in Narine's bowling action for all his deliveries that were tested was within the 15-degree level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations for the review of bowlers reported with suspected illegal bowling actions.
The umpires are free to report Narine in the future if they believe he uses a suspect action. The retest was performed at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on March 28.
Narine was reported during the third One Day International against Sri Lanka on November 7, 2015 in Pallekele and subsequently banned. Narine had previously spent a year out of the West Indies side working on his action but, three games into his comeback, he was pulled up again.
The WICB initially named him in the squad for the 2016 World T20, but he withdrew citing "insufficient progress in the rehabilitative work on his bowling action".
He was also called for a suspect action during the 2014 Champions League and the 2015 IPL, although he escaped second time around with a "final warning" from the BCCI.
