Pakistani pacer Mohammad Hasnain’s action deemed illegal; suspended from bowling

PCB and CA confirm that Hasnain’s action has been tested illegal after the inspection at an ICC approved facility in Lahore.

Former England captain Nasser Hussain once remarked “Pakistan Cricket at its best; One minute down, next minute up”. Time and again this statement comes around to prove itself right. This time fortunes are slightly against the young fast bowler who not only proved his potential but was turning out to be a match-winner for Pakistan. 

In less than a month’s time Hasnain, who was on his way to becoming a superstar in Australia, bowling rockets in the recently concluded season of Big Bash League (BBL), is now suspended from bowling in Pakistan’s marquee T20 league tournament, Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well as international cricket. 

Earlier, Hasnain’s action was reported in Australia by umpire Gerard Abood. According to ICC guidelines, the bowler with suspected action is required to be tested at an ICC approved facility within the next 14 days. 

While Hasnain was supposed to get tested at a facility in Brisbane, PCB called back all Pakistani players playing the BBL for preparation ahead of the PSL. Thus, it was decided that the action will be tested at the ICC approved facility at Lahore and the results would be shared with Cricket Australia for independent review and verification. Subsequently, both parties in agreement found the result to be illegal and imposed the ban on Hasnain.

Luckily, age is on Hasnain’s side. The 21-year-old had burst through the ranks in domestic cricket in 2018 and his ability to clock 150 clicks fast-tracked him into the Pakistan setup. As a 19-year-old he had debuted for Pakistan in both ODIs and T20Is but has 26 caps already despite not being a first-choice pick for Pakistan. His returns have been modest but he certainly has bowled a couple of match-winning spells for Pakistan.

It is quite interesting that his action hasn’t been suspected in the last 2.5 years of international and league cricket. The only possible explanation is a gradual biomechanical change in his action has occurred which has taken the bend in the arm to over 15 degrees. The PCB along with their bowling experts have expressed confidence that his action can be easily reworked to meet the ICC prescribed norms. 

Hasnain isn’t the first bowler from Pakistan to be banned due to suspect action. Saeed Ajmal and Mohammed Hafeez are the other two famous names having undergone troubles around the same. However, being a pace bowler with much linear action, Hasnain might be back on the park bowling rockets sooner rather than later.