Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and West Indies spinner Sunil Narine has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the team’s triumph over Chris Gayle’s Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.
Narine ended with 2 wickets for 28 runs as KKR defended a par score of 164 to register their second win in a row and climb up to third position on the points table. The bowler artfully defended 14 runs off the final over to help his team stun KXIP by 2 runs. Following the match, however, an IPL release confirmed that the player’s bowling action was once again under scrutiny.
"Sunil Narine, the Kolkata Knight Riders player, has been reported for bowling with a Suspected Illegal Bowling Action during his side’s Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match against Kings XI Punjab at Abu Dhabi,” the release stated.
West Indies legend Courtney Walsh has cautioned up and coming fast bowler Oshane Thomas that being in top physical shape is a key component to success on the international cricket stage.
Thomas burst on the scene during the 2017 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where the fast bowler regularly clocked over 90 miles per hour. That kind of promise quickly landed the 23-year-old straight into the senior Windies set-up, where he has so far played 20 ODIs and 12 Twenty20 Internationals.
“I think he has a lot of work to do. He has to get himself back in shape,” Walsh told the Mason and Guest radio program.
It’s now a quarter of a century since the West Indies were dethroned as kings of test cricket when they lost that bruising 1995 series 2-1 to Australia in the Caribbean.
Prior to that, the West Indies had piled together a 15-year unbeaten run, not only the best in cricket but one of the great achievements in world sport at that time.
Since that win at Sabina Park in April of 1995, when Mark Taylor’s men sent shock waves through the cricketing world, the West Indies has gone downhill and currently ranks near the foot of the table.
Two of the players who were involved in that series bowling legends Courtney Walsh and Sir Curtley Ambrose have been reflecting on the defeat and for Walsh it was one of the saddest moments of his illustrious career.
Just days after Sir Vivian Richards questioned selectors’ reluctance to consider Nicholas Pooran for Test cricket, two former internationals have raved about his exceptional talent. This comes after another stunning performance by Pooran in white-ball cricket.
The gifted left-hander smashed his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) half-century in a losing effort today as his Kings XI Punjab suffered a batting meltdown to crash to a heavy 69-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad. The left-hander hit a sparkling 77 off 37 deliveries but Kings XI still failed in their quest to overhaul 202 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, ending on 132 all out with 19 balls to spare.
Despite the loss, Pooran was the talk of the town with former Australian international and now cricket commentator Tom Moody gushing over his quality. Moody, has been watching Pooran for a number of years in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and in the IPL and believes the batsman has an exciting future ahead of him.
“I don’t think there are better strikers of the ball in world cricket than Nicholas Pooran,” said Moody while speaking on T20 Timeout.
West Indies are not expected to face the psychological challenge of a complete bio-secure bubble on their tour of New Zealand starting next month, because of the efficient manner in which public health authorities in the south Pacific nation have managed the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Caribbean side was subjected to stringent protocols on the tour of England last July where players were forced to bunker down in hotels based at the playing venues, with limited or no interaction with the general public.
However, the United Kingdom has been hard hit by the pandemic, resulting in half-million recorded infections and 57 000 deaths while New Zealand remarkably has reported only 1800 infections and 25 deaths.
There are currently only 39 active cases.
Convenor of selectors, Roger Harper, said while all cricket tours would now be guided by COVID-19 protocols as part of a new normal of the international game, New Zealand would provide some respite for players from the difficult mental grind of constant lockdown outside of cricket.
“This is the state of the world. There are a lot of people because of the situation who do not have an opportunity to work and I think this is the perspective we have to look at this from,” the former West Indies off-spinner told the Mason and Guest Cricket Show.
