(Reprinted from Guardian Media Group)
Cricket fans in T&T will be happy with the news that mystery spinner Sunil Narine will be coming home for the Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament this year.
Narine who has been playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors for the past three years, is set to be transferred to the T&T Knight Riders for the 2016 edition. Guardian Media understands that the move will take place within the next two weeks.
Narine was Amazon Warriors marquee player for the first three years but with the pool of players opened up now, the Warriors is set to transfer him to the T&T Knight Riders. However, Narine’s availability for the CPL will depend on the results of the upcoming tests on his bowling action, which is expected to take place at the end of the month at Loughborough University in England.
Narine, earlier this month, was banned from bowling by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and then subsequently by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) after he was reported for an illegal bowling action last November in Sri Lanka while representing the West Indies in a One-Day International Series.
He is currently undergoing rehabilitative work on his bowling action and is being assisted by David Furlonge, the Queen’s Park coach, and Kelvin Williams, national assistant coach, and head of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board’s (TTCB) Technical Committee on Suspect Bowling Actions.
Narine’s progress will be closely monitored by his coach and the bowling consultant from England Carl Crowe, as he looks to put his game right before the World T20 in India in March and the Indian Premier League T20 tournament that follows.
Narine’s move to T&T was always on the cards, since Red Chillies Entertainment bought the franchise last year. Red Chillies also owns the Kolkata Knight Riders which Narine campaigns for in the IPL. As Narine goes to Loughborough for his tests, there will be tremendous interest from all parties, as he is expected to play a major role for the West Indies at the World T20, and the Kolkata Knight Riders and T&T Knight Riders in the domestic T20 tournaments.
