Cleared Narine lands at Eden, but rain plays spoilsport

Hours after he was cleared to play in the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders' star spinner Sunil Narine on Sunday landed at the Eden Gardens for the team's practice session, but a thunderstorm played spoilsport.

Narine, who underwent a repeat test earlier this week for his suspect bowling action at the International Cricket Council (ICC)-accredited Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre (SRMC) in Chennai, got the clean chit from the BCCI on Sunday.

According to a BCCI release, the bowling review committee comprising S. Venkatraghavan, Javagal Srinath and A.V. Jayaprakash cleared Narine after examining his bowling action.

Narine, who had earlier skipped the team's practice session over the last two days, reached the Eden Gardens alongside his teammates soon after.

As the 26-year-old West indies player, who had a big role in the KKR's title conquest last year, alighted from the team bus, there were loud cries of "Narine", "Narine" from among the enthusiasts who had gathered to watch the practice session.

However, with the thundershowers leaving a large part of the turf underwater, Narine had to be satisfied with a workout in the Pankaj Gupta indoor stadium located within the Eden Gardens premises.

But the relief in the Knight Riders' camp at Narine's availability was manifest in his teammate and allrounder Shakib Al Hasan's comments, who called it a "big news".

"It is a big news for us. He's very important in our scheme of things," said the former Bangladesh skipper.