Muttiah Muralitharan would not have played top flight cricket under today's ICC rules: Mohammad Yousuf

Former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf has said that Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan would not have played top flight cricket if today’s restrictions on chucking were in place during the off-spinner’s playing days.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), in a bid to curb chucking, recently suspended the likes of Saeed Ajmal, Sachithra Senanayake, Prosper Utseya, Kane Williamson and Sohag Gazi – all five of them being off-spinners – after it was found, on testing at ICC-accredited centre, that they straightened their arm beyond 15 degrees while bowling.

Yousuf said: "Murali straightened his elbow well past the current allowed limit of 15 degrees but he was fortunate to play top-flight cricket because at that time the ICC protocol was different."

"I played him a lot of times and I know how he exceeded the 15-degree limit. With each ball, one could see him speed up his deliveries and I told him myself 'you are lucky to be playing'."

With 1,347 wickets to his name, Muralitharan, who retired from international cricket after the 2011 50-over World Cup finals, against India, is the leading wicket-taker in international cricket.

Supports ICC’s crackdown on suspect action

Fully backing the ICC’s stand, the 40-year-old, who represented Pakistan in 381 international matches scoring over 17,000 international runs, said: "You could hear the sound of speed as the ball came out of his hand. Under the old protocol, bowlers who straightened their arm beyond 15 degrees like Murali, were allowed to play on medical grounds but now things are different and I support these changes.

“Their (ICC) CEO has made this very clear and overall I think there is lot of support for these new protocols while testing suspect bowlers."