Bangladesh' opening fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and left arm spinner Arafat Sunny have been banned from bowling in international cricket due to illigal actions, the International Cricket Council (ICC) annouced Saturday.
The global cricket body took action againt the Bangladeshi bowling duo after an independent assessment of their actions at an ICC-accredited testing centre in the southern Indian city of Chennai. They were reported after their side's World T20 opening match against the Netherlands at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharmashal on March 9.
"Arafat's analysis revealed that the elbow extension for majority of his deliveries had exceeded the 15 degrees' level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions, while not all of Taskin' deliveries were legal," the ICC statement said.
Bangladesh's team manager Khaled Mahmud has admitted that the suspensions are a big blow for the Tiger' World T20 campaign.
"It is a big blow for us that two of our best bowlers have been suspended in international cricket. We did not anticipate this, especially with Taskin. We have nothing much to do with the issue, to be honest, we are here to play cricket and we are a professional unit. There is no use thinking much about it. Now, we are rather thinking of the team combination in the upcoming matches," Bangladesh team manager Khaled Mahmud said after the ICC's annoucement on Taskin and Arafat's suspensions.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board named Saqlain Sajib and Shuvagata Hom as replacements for Ahmed and Sunny in the Bangladeshi squad for the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20 2016.
The Masharafe-Mortaza-led Tigers, who qualified for the World T20 main round after beating the Netherlands and Oman in their group matches, lost their first match of the main draw against Pakistan on Wednesday. Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi's all-round performance guided his team to a massive 55-run victory over Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He slammed 49 off just 19 balls and picked two key wickets of Shabbir Rahman and Tamim Iqbal. A second wicket 95-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez (64) and opener Ahmed Shahzad (52) and Shahid Afridi's 19-ball 49 run knock powered Pakistan to 201 for five in 20 overs. It was Pakistan's highest ever score in the history of the World T20. Bangladesh, in reply, managed to score only 146-6 in their quota of 20 overs.
Bangladesh now facees Australia in a must win Super10 Group 2 match at Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.
