Chennai: There was an air of excitement at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium half-an-hour prior to the toss. Sunil Narine, who is awaiting the result of his biometric test after being reported for suspect action, was going through the grind alongside the likes of Johan Botha, Kuldeep Yadav, Yusuf Pathan and Brad Hogg.
As he sent down ball after ball at the adjacent wicket, repeating his remodelled action after every delivery, speculation of his playing gathered pace.
However, the Kolkata think tank didn’t want to take a gamble and lose their major weapon right at the halfway stage of the tournament.
They decided to put him on ice. It’s a pity that Narine, who missed out against Chennai Super Kings in the final of the Champions League T20 in 2014 when he was first reported for illegal action, will yet again warm the bench for the same reason against the same opposition.
