Narine skips practice
Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders trump card spinner Sunil Narine checked into the city but did not come for the IPl franchise’s first practice session here for the apparent reason that he is yet to get a BCCI go-ahead for his suspect bowling action. “Narine checked in late last night but he did not come for the practice,” a KKR official told reporters. Narine appeared for a retest for the suspect bowling centre at Sri Ramachandra University, an ICC-accredited centre, in Chennai yesterday as the report is still being awaited. The Windies spinner had got a clearance report issued by the testing centre at University of loughborough, another ICC accredited centre, in early March. But the BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya insisted that Narine must undergo another test as per the rule book.
RR’s Richardson out of IPl
Melbourne: Rajasthan Royals’ Australian fast bowler Kane Richardson on Friday ruled himself out from the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier league (IPl) for personal reasons. “Sadly will be missing this years IPl due to personal reasons. Thanks to the @rajasthanroyals for their support. Good luck! #AlwaysARoyal,” the 24-year-old wrote on Twitter on Friday. Since making his debut in 2013, Richardson has 11 wickets from eight ODIs for Australia.
‘Chinaman bowling will grow’
New Delhi: Chinaman bowlers are becoming a rarity in India and world cricket, but KKR spinner Kuldeep Yadav is confident that more people will take it up after seeing him perform even though his craft is “very tough”. “Not many players try Chinaman bowling. I hope people give it a go after seeing me. Some say that it’s very tough. Yes, tough it is but I would say ‘practice makes the man perfect’. I believe the world will see a lot of chinaman bowlers in the near future,” Kuldeep said.
Bond joins Mumbai Indians
Mumbai: The preparation of former IPl champions Mumbai Indians for the eight edition of the T20 tournament gathered pace today as newly recruited bowling coach Shane Bond joined the side. Bond was the bowling coach of New Zealand, which lost in the final of the World Cup to Australia but quit that post to join MI ahead of the IPl 8 season. MI’s fleet of fast bowlers — including Karnataka’s R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun — has the ideal chance to pick his brains and develop their armoury during the IPl season that ends on May 24.
‘Cariappa difficult to crack’
Kolkata: Hard-hitting all rounder Surya Kumar Yadav feels defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders’ latest recruit KC Cariappa is a “different” bowler and teams would find him “difficult” to crack during IPl-8. “I saw him in KPl (Karnataka league), have played him at the nets. It’s just going to be matter of that one game. He’s going to be different and difficult for the opponents,” Yadav said of the Karnataka rookie who has been purchased for an astonishing sum of $400,000, 24 times his base price.
Two-day IPl workshop
Mumbai: Twenty six match officials, including umpires and referees at this season’s Indian Premier league will be taking part in a two-day workshop, conducted by Simon Taufel and organised by the BCCI, here on April 4 and 5. A wide range of topics from clothing regulations to on-field player behaviour and the overall playing conditions would be covered during the workshop. The workshop, now in its third year, is an ongoing initiative as part of the BCCI match officials development programme, said a BCCI release.