The news is very surprising! Shakib Al Hasan was the number one all-rounder in the ICC rankings year after year in an international career spanning nearly two decades. The umpires of the English County Championship found faults in Shakib's bowling action towards the end of his career.
Shakib played for Surrey against Somerset in the county just before the India tour last September. Although Shakib could not do much with the bat in that four-day match, he bowled 60 overs and took 9 wickets. The field umpires were David Mills and Steve O'Shaughnessy. They questioned Shakib's bowling action and reported. Shakib will now undergo a bowling action test at an ICC-accredited lab in England.
An England Cricket Board (ECB) official, on condition of anonymity, told today's newspaper, “The umpires have reported Shakib's actions in the match. However, he is not barred from playing until he is tested in an ICC approved lab. Right now we are trying to fix a lab by talking to him. The exam may be this month itself.
When Shakib was contacted on WhatsApp about the matter, he did not respond. ECB informed Shakib but did not directly inform BCB. BCB chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said that they do not know the matter. And if the incident happened in the domestic cricket of any board, they are not supposed to be informed officially. In international cricket, one board informed another board.
The Bangladesh team's ODI series against Afghanistan starts from tomorrow. A few days ago, BCB president Farooq Ahmed said that Shakib did not want to play this series by himself.
