Narine yet to get BCCI's approval for IPL

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 (on Thursday) 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 Universtity, an ICC-accredited centre, in Chennai on Thursday 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.

Barring Narine, most of the KKR players including skipper Gautam Gambhir and coach Trevor Bayliss practised at the Eden Gardens this evening.

Team mentor and legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram is slated to arrive Sunday, the team official said.

The season eight of the IPL T20 franchise tournament begins in Eden Gardens with KKR taking on Mumbai Indians on April 8.