ICC may test Hafeez's action just before World Cup

Published January 21, 2015
In this photo, all-rounder  Mohammad Hafeez delivers the ball. — AFP/File
In this photo, all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez delivers the ball. — AFP/File

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to conduct an official bio-mechanics test of all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez's bowling action in the first week of February.

Pakistan’s premier all-rounder, Hafeez, had been suspended from bowling when his action emerged to be exceeding the limit of 15 degrees as set by the ICC for bowlers.

If cleared by the ICC, Hafeez would be able to bowl at the World Cup 2015 starting from Feb 14 in Australia and New Zealand.

Read: Hafeez fails to clear bio-mechanics test on bowling action

Hafeez's bowling suspension had been a cause of worry for the team management as his role as a bowler has been of greater importance in Pakistan's not-so-fiery pace attack.

Earlier, Hafeez had failed to clear two informal bio-mechanics tests, the latest being conducted in Chennai, India last week.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a PCB official had said that Hafeez turned his arm at angles measuring from 16 to 18 degrees while bowling from over the wicket and from round the wicket it ranged between 12 and 19 degrees.

Also read: Hafeez ban triggers fresh debate on opening pair for World Cup

PCB had selected Chennai as the venue for Hafeez’s test on grounds that a couple of bowlers had been cleared from there in the recent past.

Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action by the umpires during the first Test against New Zealand in November last year. He was sent for his first bio-mechanics test to Loughborough’s National Cricket Performance Centre on Dec 7. He failed to clear the test.

More on this: Does Mohammad Hafeez merit a spot purely as batsman?

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