Calcutta: Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn has been called up to West Indies’ one-day squad for the series against India in place of Sunil Narine.
The first one-dayer is in Kochi on Wednesday.
The Kolkata Knight Riders off-spinner was withdrawn from the series after he had been reported for a suspect action twice at the recently-concluded Champions League T20 before being suspended from bowling. While the suspension was restricted to the Champions League and other BCCI-run tournaments, like the IPL, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) subsequently decided to not play him in the India series.
The WICB sent a press release stating that Narine had been withdrawn to allow him “the opportunity to have his action assessed and plan his return to cricket”.
Clive Lloyd, the West Indies chairman of selectors, was unhappy with the Champions League T20’s procedure for dealing with suspect actions. “I am disappointed that our best bowler could suddenly be out of the tour,” he said. “I am quite disappointed about the procedure that surrounded the ‘calling’ of Sunil in the Champions Trophy tournament. These things have the potential to disrupt the team’s preparation for a critical series against India but we will have to overcome this hurdle.”
Narine was banned from bowling in the CLT20 final following which the WICB decided to withdraw him from the tour. The Knight Riders lost the final to Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.
“Kolkata Knight Riders player Sunil Narine will not be eligible to bowl in the CLT20 final following a report on his suspected illegal bowling action,” said a CLT20 media release.
“Mr Narine was reported for a second time in as many matches over a suspected illegal bowling action during the Champions League Twenty20 semi-final game against the Hobart Hurricanes at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad.
“After all video evidence of the match was taken into account, onfield umpires Rod Tucker and S. Ravi along with third umpire Vineet Kulkarni felt that there was a flex action in his elbow beyond the acceptable limit when bowling during the match.
“Under the CLT20 Suspected Illegal Bowling Action policy, if a player receives a report while on the warning list, the player shall be suspended from bowling for the remainder of the tournament and from bowling in any matches organised by the BCCI until such date as he is cleared.
“The team will be advised to send the player to the SRMC (Sri Ramachandra Medical College) for testing as per the testing protocol set by the ICC. SRMC is accredited by the ICC as a testing centre for suspected illegal bowling action.”
Narine was first reported on September 29 during the Knight Riders’ match against the Dolphins by onfield umpires Anil Chaudhary and Chettithody Shamshuddin along with third umpire Kumar Dharamsena.
Meanwhile, West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell reached Kochi on Sunday, ahead of the first one-day International on Wednesday.
There was some confusion as the two players got into the wrong vehicle. When informed, they got into another car, which was also not meant for transporting them.
Kerala Cricket Association officials, however, denied any security lapse. The rest of the members of the West Indies squad and the Indian team are expected to reach on Monday.
