LONDON (Reuters) – The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has suspended Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan from bowling in its organized tournaments, international media reported on Friday.
According to reports, Shakib underwent an independent test of his bowling at Loughborough University earlier this month, which found his action to be illegal.
As a result, Shakib will now need to undergo an independent reassessment of his action to overturn the suspension.
The suspension officially comes into force from 10 December, the day the ECB received the results of the assessment from Loughborough University.
Notably, Shakib’s bowling action was considered suspicious by on-field umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy and David Millns during his County Championship spell with Surrey in September.
In his one-match stint, the left-arm spinner recorded brilliant figures of 9/193 but could not prevent Somerset from claiming a thumping 111-run victory.
Remember, this is the first time that Shakib Al Hasan has been scrutinized because of his bowling action amidst his international career, which spanned two decades, featuring a total of 712 wickets in 447 matches.
The all-rounder’s international career for Bangladesh is currently in jeopardy after he withdrew from Bangladesh’s home Test series against South Africa on security grounds.
He was then left out of Bangladesh’s ODI squad for the three-match series against the West Indies, which ended yesterday.
Despite his continued struggles, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed said earlier this month that the all-rounder is part of the team’s plans for the 2025 ICC Men’s Champions Trophy.
“It is certainly a challenge for Shakib to play for Bangladesh while he is abroad. For now, he remains part of our strategy for the Champions Trophy scheduled in February and March next year,” Ahmed said.
Sohail Imran is a senior reporter at Geo News.
