ICC suspended Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal for illegal bowling action

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on 9 September 2014 suspended Saeed Ajmal, the off-spinner of Pakistan, from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect for illegal bowling action.

ICC suspended Ajmal after the findings of an independent analysis by the Human Movement Specialists team of ICC. The independent analysis was done at the National Cricket Center in Brisbane on 25 August 2014.

The analysis confirmed that the bowling action of Ajmal illegal as his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance (by which the arm is allowed to bend) that is permitted under the regulations of ICC.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan said that the board would challenge the decision of ICC.

Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action was reported after the first cricket test match against Sri Lanka in Galle in August 2014.  As per the ICC statement, Ajmal can apply a re-assessment after modifying his bowling action in accordance with the clause 2.4 of the Regulations for the review of bowlers reported with Suspected Illegal bowling Actions.

Saeed Ajmal in Cricket as a bowler
• Test cricket – he had played 35 Tests and grabbed 178 wickets at an average of 28.10
• One Day International cricket – he had played 111 matches and grabbed 183 wickets at an average of 22.18
• Twenty20 cricket – he had played 63 matches and grabbed 85 wickets at an average of 17.54

Earlier, he was reported for his suspected action in 2009, the year of his debut for his doosra (an action of bowling) but was cleared after tests at the University of Western Australia in Perth.