Mohammad Hafeez banned from bowling for one year
Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for a period of one year, reports ESPNcricinfo. The 34-year-old’s bowling action was found to be illegal for the second time since last November.
The International Cricket Councill will now allow him to test his action again only after the 12-month period gets over. He was reported for a suspect action during the recently concluded Test series in Sri Lanka. After that, the off-spinner had his action tested on the 6th of July in Chennai and the results went against his favour as he was found to be exceeding the 15-degree limit.
"As this report has constituted the player's second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period," the ICC said. "Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a reassessment of his bowling action."
This will now be a major blow for Pakistan since his contributions with the ball have been immense (he has picked 6 wickets in the current ODI series so far). He was first reported last year in November during the series against New Zealand and the PCB requested the ICC to test his action just ahead of the World Cup since Pakistan had already lost Saeed Ajmal.
But eventually, he didn’t play the tournament because of an injury and had his action cleared on the 21st of April in Chennai.