Knight Riders relent as Narine appears for retest

West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine underwent a fresh testing process on his bowling action at the Sri Ramachandra Universtity, an ICC-accredited centre, in Chennai on Thursday. The reports from the test are likely to be submitted on Saturday, and by Monday, the BCCI's sub-committee dealing with suspect bowling actions will finalise its decision on whether Narine would be available to play for Kolkata Knight Riders this IPL.

This means Knight Riders were forced to grudgingly accept the BCCI diktat which stated that Narine had to undergo tests at the Chennai centre despite him having got a clearance from the University of Loughborough in March.

It is understood that Narine appeared in front of the BCCI's sub-committee which deals with suspect bowling actions. Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath is head of the three-man panel which comprises former India captain S Venkataraghavan and ex-international umpire AV Jayaprakash.

Srinath's panel observed Narine in real time and also put him through various tests with the entire process lasting for less than two hours. Apparently the panel did not study the results from the Loughborough centre.

Knight Riders had lodged a protest with BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya questioning the necessity of a separate test when Narine had got himself cleared from an ICC-accredited testing centre in Loughborough. But Dalmiya informed the team management that he was helpless and instead of giving an explanation, he suggested it would only benefit the franchise if Narine traveled to Chennai.

Narine remains the most valuable player for Knight Riders, the defending IPL champions, who will play Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener on April 9 at Eden Gardens. After he was called in successive matches during last year's Champions League Twenty20, Narine made a comeback to competitive cricket with Trinidad & Tobago in the Nagico Super50, including a career-best 6 for 9 in the final to overwhelm Guyana.

More importantly, Narine achieved that feat with a new bowling action, which he has been working extensively on in the company of experts like former Pakistan offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq.