5 Indian cricketers who have been called for chucking in last 5 years
As Muttiah Muralitharan continued to torment batsmen with his dooras, quite a few kids back in India gaped in admiration and wondered when, if ever, they would be able to replicate the mastery of the wily Sri Lankan legend. A decade later, they were the same men who went on to regret the absence of a statutory “Don’t try this at home” warning during Sri Lanka’s bowling.Muralitharan, in spite of being the legend that he is, has had to endure unremitting criticism and scathing remarks regarding his bowling action throughout his career, which, otherwise, has been quite illustrious of sorts. The outcome was such that he went on to confess publicly that the nightmarish biomechanical tests and frequent bowling arm examinations had exhausted him as much emotionally as physically.The stringent rules that govern the game of cricket present a conservative view to the bending of the bowling arm during delivery. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has, after many deliberations, codified the maximum extent of flexing of the elbow to 15 degrees, beyond which the delivery would be termed illegal and the bowler duly penalized.The extent of flexion of the elbow during a bowler’s delivery stride remains open for interpretation by the onfield umpires during a match. In the case of one or both the umpires finding a bowler guilty as above, the delivery is deemed illegal and the bowler is called for throwing.Instances of bowlers suffering the ignominy of being called for chucking during a match or being reported for suspect action have increased manifold in the last two decades. As the ICC strives to curb down cheating by empowering national boards and umpires, numerous cricketers, who had previously escaped punishment, find themselves ensnared by technology at the twilight of their careers.Although Abid Ali and Syed Kirmani remain the only Indians to be called for throwing in international matches after Madhusudan Rege in 1951, there have been quite a few occasions where domestic cricketers have ended up at the wrong end of the rule. I enlist here top five Indian bowlers who have been called for throwing during domestic matches in the last five years.
#1 Siddharth Trivedi
As if the loss against Himachal Pradesh wasn’t humiliating enough, Gujarat Cricket Association was dragged into fresh troubles in the fag end of 2009 with their strike bowler Siddharth Trivedi being called by the umpires for chucking.
The lanky seamer, who had picked up six wickets in the first innings, was in for poor luck as the umpires called a no-ball twice in his two spells and cautioned him for an excessive transgression of the elbow. Doubts regarding the legality of his bowling action had already been raised during the Orissa tie, and the umpire G Pratap Kumar left no room for hesitation as he called a good-length delivery on the third ball of Trivedi’s over as a no-ball.
As the latest addition to the dubious list of cricketers with suspect actions, the Rajasthan Royals paceman had to leave for Bangalore in order to undergo a rigorous rehabilitation programme under the National Cricket Academy (NCA) before getting a sanction from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to participate in competitive cricket.