“Shameful gesture by Marcus Stoinis”- Shoaib Akhtar takes a dig at ICC for easy let off

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has come out in support of fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain by branding Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis' gesture in The Hundred as ‘shameful’. In a viral video, the Aussie had apparently accused Hasnain of chucking.

Reacting to the development, Akhtar also took a dig at the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not taking the incident seriously. In a tweet, Shoaib Akhtar wrote:

“Shameful gesture by @MStoinis regarding bowling action of @MHasnainPak during #TheHundred2022 . How dare you do such things?? Ofcourse @ICC stays quiet about them.”

He added:

“No player should be allowed to do such things if someone's been cleared already.”

The controversy erupted on Sunday when Stonis accused Hasnain of chucking during a match between the Oval Invincibles and the Southern Brave.

While batting on an unbeaten 37 off 26 balls, Stoinis top-edged a 142 kph delivery into the hands of Will Jacks at mid-off.

On his way to the dressing room, Stoinis lost his cool and imitated Hasnain’s action, seemingly emphasizing the bent elbow to insinuate that the young pacer was 'throwing'.

As per ESPNCricinfo, match referee Dean Cosker questioned Stoinis regarding the incident post-match. The Australian was not formally charged with a breach under the disciplinary code by the England Cricket Board (ECB), which irked Akhtar.

Mohammad Hasnain's struggles with his action

Shoaib Akhtar's anger notwithstanding, Mohammad Hasnain's bowling action also has been in the spotlight before. The latest development comes months after Hasnain was found guilty of an illegal bowling action in the Big Bash League.

He was suspended from bowling after his action was deemed suspicious when Moises Henriques raised the matter with the umpires during the last edition of the BBL. Henriques had yelled at him, saying:

“Nice throw, mate.”

The findings showed that he breached the permissible 15-degree limit for bending the elbow. However, Hasnain worked on it and improved his bowling action to make a comeback to T20 cricket. He has also represented Pakistan in 18 T20Is since making his debut in 2019.

What makes Shoaib Akhtar's reaction interesting is the fact that he himself faced accusations of having a dicey bowling action during his playing days. However, Akhtar managed to survive and achieve a decent amount of success with the Pakistan team.

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