Sunil Narine cleared by IPL's suspect bowling action committee
Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders' West Indian spinner Sunil Narine was on Sunday cleared by the Indian Premier League's suspect bowling action committee after being reported last week.
Narine was reported for a suspect action during his team's clash against Kings XI Punjab last Saturday and another such instance could have led him to being barred from bowling in the league.
But, in a relief for the player as well as for his franchise, the IPL committee found his bowling action to be clean.
"Sunil Narine, the Kolkata Knight Riders player, has been cleared by the IPL's suspect bowling action committee," the IPL said in a statement.
After being reported, Narine was placed on the IPL warning list.
KKR requested for an official assessment of Narine's action from the specific committee, submitting action footage in slow motion with back and side angles.
"The committee carefully reviewed all the deliveries of action footage sent of Mr Narine with the naked eye and has come to the conclusion that the elbow-bend appears to be within the range of permissible limits.
"The committee also noted that Mr Narine should reproduce the same action going forward in the IPL 2020 matches as presented to the Committee in the video footage," the IPL added in its statement.
The 32-year-old cricketer has now been removed from the IPL suspect action warning list.
In 2015, Narine served suspension from bowling in international cricket after his action was declared illegal by the ICC. But he was cleared to bowl in all formats in 2016 after undergoing corrective measures.
His action was also reported during the 2018 Pakistan Super League but was cleared eventually. Narine sharpened his batting skills after being reported multiple times.
Narine picked up two wickets in his four overs during the match last Saturday, which KKR won by two runs while defending 165.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
