IPL 2020: Dinesh Karthik reveals the reason behind Sunil Narine’s omission from match against RCB

Sunil Narine couldn’t make Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) playing eleven for the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Monday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The Knights had to take the tough call after the West Indies spinner was reported for suspect action during the match against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Saturday, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Against Virat Kohli’s Challengers, Tom Banton, who made his IPL debut, replaced the tweaker in KKR’s lineup. On being asked about Narine’s omission, Dinesh Karthik, the Knights’ skipper, stated that the franchise had already released a statement.

“We had put our request statement, and you can just take a look at it. We have expressed our statements there,” Karthik was quoted as saying before the match. Narine might clear his action at ICC Academy in Dubai and comeback soon.

Sunil Narine still eligible to bowl in the IPL

Narine was eligible to bowl in the tournament after being reported as he was included in the warning list. However, if the Trinidadian was reported again, he would be banned from bowling in the T20 extravaganza until he’s cleared.

Before the match against RCB, KKR released a statement, mentioning that they are working with the IPL Governing Council to resolve the issue.

“Mr. Sunil Narine was reported for suspect action by the match officials after KKR’s match vs KXIP held on Oct 10, 2020 in Abu Dhabi. This came as a surprise to the franchise and Mr. Narine, considering he has played over 115 games in the IPL since 2012 and as many as 68 games since 2015, when he was last reported during the IPL season for a suspect action before being subsequently cleared completely by SRASSC, an ICC accredited facility.

“Furthermore, he was playing his 6th game this season, with no concerns expressed formally or informally by the match officials so far,” the statement read.

In six matches in IPL 2020, Narine has picked up five wickets. In the last two games, Karthik held him back for the death overs and the tactic paid rich dividends.

In the match against KXIP, Narine bowled the 20th over and took his team over the line. He hasn’t performed with the bat though, getting out to short-pitched deliveries on quite a few instances.