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Former Pakistan National Cricket Team spinner Saeed Ajmal has made a sensational claim about the veteran India National Cricket Team off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, saying that the star India bowler has an illegal bowling action.
The 36-year-old Ashwin is regarded as one of the best spinners in the world. He has performed exceptionally well for India across formats, especially in the purest format of the game.
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Ravichandran Ashwin has played 92 Tests, 113 ODIs, and 65 T20Is for Team India. In Tests, he has picked up 474 wickets. While in ODIs, he has bagged 151 wickets and in T20Is he has taken 72 wickets.
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Speaking on the Nadir Ali Podcast, Saeed Ajmal alleged that currently active bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin, Sunil Narine, and former bowlers like Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh, Curtly Ambrose would have all failed ICC’s test for bowling action. He elaborated:
“I can give you 20-25 names of bowlers who used to do this. Bowlers who have taken 400-500 wickets are also present on the list. The likes of Harbhajan Singh, Ashwin, Narine, Muttiah Muralitharan, even he was on medical condition. Then among fast bowlers, there’s Ambrose, Courtney Marsh, many others. These bowlers give a jerk to their hand while bowling. Their bowling action is illegal.”
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Notably, Saeed Ajmal was banned by the ICC on 9 September 2014 for having illegal bowling action. The governing body stated that Ajmal’s “deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations.”
I had a medical condition – Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal further said that he had a medical condition due to which his bowling action was deemed illegal. The former spinner claimed that he was allowed to bowl with the same action in 2009 but ICC made changes to the rules after Muttiah Muralitharan retired as a result he was handed a ban.
“I had a medical condition. My shoulder, wrist and arm were not fully fine. A man whose shoulder bends 90 degrees, he cannot raise his shoulder without bending it. Under that medical condition, I was cleared to bowl.
“I kept playing like that. After I took 448 international wickets, they remembered that Saeed Ajmal’s action is not proper. I asked about it to the referee in Sri Lanka. He gave me a letter which stated that the medical condition is not applicable to you now. I asked them why. They said Muralitharan has retired. He had some medical condition as well. So they removed the rule,” Ajmal concluded.
The 45-year-old played 35 Tests, 113 ODIs, and 64 T20Is for Pakistan National Cricket Team between 2008 to 2015. He finished his career with 178 Test wickets, 184 ODI wickets, and 85 T20I wickets.
