Pragyan Ojha banned from bowling due to suspect bowling action

Pragyan Ojha

Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha has been banned from bowling in any form of competitive cricket with immediate effect after his action was found to be illegal following the tests at the ICC accredited centre in Chennai, which found that the 28-year-old’s elbow had a flex of more than the allowed limit of 15 degrees.

As soon as the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), the left-arm spinner’s state association, was notified of the results, Ojha was removed from the state Ranji squad that is set to face Services on Sunday, which has been confirmed by the association’s joint secretary Purshottam Agarwal. 

Ojha, who has represented his country in 48 international matches and has 144 wickets to his name, hasn’t been in the international circuit for sometime now. He last played for India in November 2013, against West Indies at Mumbai.

Despite delivering a Man-of-the-Match performance in his last Test, Ojha was discarded from the team with neither the selectors nor the team management giving any specific reasons, which led to speculations about his bowling action, as it coincided with the ICC’s crackdown on chucking. The reports have now turned out to be true.