ICC umpires reveal Harbhajan Singh was reported for suspect action last year
About a year ago, the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) received a high-profile suspect action report about Harbhajan Singh from the umpire and match referee of an inter-zonal Vijay Hazare knockout match. He was reported for suspect action by umpires K.Bharatan and Anil Chaudhury, who happened to be an ICC international panel third umpire. Several pundits have indicated that it could have been the reason for Singh’s ouster from the national team.
Chinmoy Sharma, the match referee submitted the report to the BCCI and a copy was given to Bhupinder Singh, a Punjab Cricket Association(PCA) official. It was after the Vijay Hazare pre-quarterfinal match between Punjab and Gujarat, whcih was being played at the Madhavarao Scindia Stadium, Rajkot, on November 19th, 2014.
“While trying to bowl the faster delivery, straightened the elbow joint after reaching the shoulder height in his delivery swing,” stated the umpires, citing the 16.3rd and 20.4th over balls as suspect. However, Harbhajan continued to play for the BCCI domestic tournaments under strict scrutiny both on and off the pitch. Harbhajan has played the quarterfinal against Railways, semifinal against Odisha and final against Karnataka. Chinmoy Sharma and Pronob Roy were the match referees. The umpires were, A. Nand Kishore, Shavir Tarapore, Nitin Menon, and Anil Chaudhary
Singh was not reported in the next three matches and it is assumed that he was notified about the developments since the Punjab Cricket Association was also given a copy. The Jalandhar-based bowler would have been rendered incapable of bowling again, if not cleared by Sri Ramachandra Medical College in Chennai. The Medical College is an ICC accredited agency to test bowlers with suspect action.
Harbhajan made his return to the team after not featuring for the first couple of Ranji Trophy matches in the 2014-15 season. Word had already gone around about the reporting and Harbhajan was thus kept under scrutiny in a few matches including the Punjab-Delhi match at Patiala. Playing in three Ranji Trophy matches in the ongoing season he took 10 wickets in the match against Tamil Nadu at Dindigul. He won the match for Punjab on Wednesday.