Sunil Narine gets vetted at Chennai sports science facility

The West Indies off-spinner, who plays for KKR, had been asked by BCCI to get his bowling action cleared

The BCCI had made it mandatory for Narine to get his bowling action cleared ahead of IPL-8.—File photo: PTI

Amid much secrecy, West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine underwent biomechanical tests for his bowling action at Sri Ramachandra Sports Sciences Centre on Thursday.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had made it mandatory for Narine — he turns out for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League-8 — to get his bowling action cleared ahead of his participation in the tournament. The event commences on April 8.

Narine is the latest high-profile bowler to get his action tested at the state-of-the-art facility in Chennai. Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan’s No. 1 spinner and among the leading bowlers in the world, had been here in January. Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachitra Senanayake and India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha have also visited the facility.  

The bio-mechanical wing at Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre is the only International Cricket Council-accredited centre in Asia. 

Former Kerala Ranji Trophy player and manager (administration), Ramesh Subramanium, said, “Bowlers across the world have been making use of the facility.” The centre has become an important tool in not just identifying ‘chucking’ but also in helping bowlers take corrective measures.

Former Tamil Nadu bowlers D. Vasu and M. Venkataramana are the BCCI coaches here; domestic bowlers with suspect actions get their action analysed.

At the bio-mechanical centre, a bowler’s action is looked into from various angles with a combination of retro-reflective sensors on the cricketer’s body and 3D cameras with infra-red capability.

This combination breaks images of the body into different segments and feeds them into a computer. The whole process is scientific.

The facility also serves as BCCI’s injury rehabilitation centre. India cricketers regularly travel to the city to recover from fitness concerns. Top local players such as Murali Vijay and R. Ashwin train at the high-performance gym when they find time.

The Sports Sciences Centre is being utilised for other sports as well. Footballers from Chennaiyin FC trained here last season and are expected to do so this year too. Indian athletes for Rio Olympics, 2016, will also be getting into shape here, said Mr. Subramanium.