Spinners who had setbacks due to their illegal bowling action

2011 ICC World Cup - Sri Lanka Nets Session
Muralitharan also had troubles with his bowling action

Slowly the off-spinners are fading away from the game and the wrist spinners have started to dominate world cricket. The rule that a bowler can't bend his arm in excess of 15 degrees has almost taken the doosra out of the game, and because of that, the offies doesn't risk bowling doosras as it can easily get them into trouble.

World's premier spinner Muttiah Muralitharan also had troubles with his bowling action, and had to go through several tests to continue bowling. The 15-degree angle was mainly introduced to accommodate the legend otherwise, it would have been curtains to his career.

In the past few years, many off-spinners lost their place in the side due to their suspect bowling action and also ended some fine careers.

Lots of questions were asked, as most of the spinners were suspended even after bowling for almost half a decade in the international arena. Unanticipated suspensions in the middle of major tournaments were very surprising, as they have bowled with the similar action for ages. This also raised questions about the standard of umpiring, and how could they miss the illegal bowling actions for such a long time.

Here's a look at some of the players who had setbacks due to illegal bowling action.


#7 Sohag Gazi

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Gazi is the only player to score a hundred and get a hat-trick in the same match

The off-spinner from Bangladesh had a brilliant start to his career, as he played 10 Test matches for his national side, picking up 38 test wickets, which included two five-wicket-hauls, and a hat-trick against the Kiwis. He was quite handy with the bat as well and went on to score a test hundred in the same game in which he got a hat-trick, becoming the first player to do so in international cricket.

He was ever-present in the Test squad until he was reported for suspect bowling action, and he never made a come back into the Test side with his re-modelled bowling action.

#6 Prosper Utseya

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Utseya didn't turn out to be the same bowler after remodelling his action

The off-spinner from Zimbabwe was a brilliant bowler in the shorter formats of the game and had a long career. He was a familiar face in the Zimbabwean bowling attack, especially when they played in coloured clothes. He also captained the side and led his team to crucial wins, and made some crucial contributions to his side's cause.

He played 164 ODIs for his side, getting 133 wickets at a stunning economy rate of just 4.37 runs per over with a five-wicket haul against the Proteas. After having such a long career he was reported for suspect bowling action and had to remodel his action. Though he was picked in the 2015 World Cup side, with his remodelled action he didn't turn out to be the same bowler.

#5 Shane Shillingford

New Zealand v West Indies - Second Test: Day 1
Shillingford has found it hard to make a comeback to the Windies team

The off-spinner from the Caribbean had a sublime start to his career. In just 16 Test matches, he picked up 70 wickets with six five-wicket-hauls and two ten-wicket-hauls. He will always be remembered for the series against India back in 2013, which was also Sachin Tendulkar's last series. In that series, he had the nod over the Indian batsmen in their own backyard and bagged quite a few wickets.

He had always been in and out of the side due to his suspect action, and after his doosra was prohibited, he was never made it back into the side.

#4 Tharindu Kaushal

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In seven Tests, Kaushal got 25 scalps to his name

The off-spinner from Sri Lanka made his ODI debut versus the Proteas in 2015 World Cup Quarter-final, and that was the only ODI he played. He played seven Tests for the national side and ended up with 25 wickets with two five-wicket-hauls.

He had a superb Test series against India when they toured Sri Lanka in 2014. He was brilliant throughout the series, especially in the first Test match at Galle, where he picked up eight wickets as the hosts went on to defeat India by a fair margin.

He couldn't make any more impacts in the international arena as he had to give up his doosra after his action came under the scanner.

#3 Pragyan Ojha

India v CA Chairman's XI - Day 1
Ojha was an integral part of Dhoni's Test side

The left-arm orthodox was a key player in the playing eleven under the captaincy of M.S. Dhoni, especially when India played a test match at home.

In just 24 Test matches that he played, he went on to get 113 wickets with seven five-wicket-hauls and a ten-wicket-haul.

At one stage he was the supreme left-arm spinner in the country. But later in his career he was banned from bowling by the BCCI due to his illegal bowling action and never played for India again.

#2 Sunil Narine

CLT20 2012 Match 9 - Kolkata Knight Riders v Perth Scorchers
KKR secured two IPL Titles, riding on Narine's impressive performances

The mystery spinner from Trinidad changed the fortunes of the IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, as he played a big role in both of their IPL title wins. He was unplayable towards the death as the best batsmen in world cricket struggled to pick him off the hand, and he won plenty of games single-handedly for the Knights. In his 82 IPL games, he took 95 wickets at an exceptional economy rate of 6.33 and also got a hat-trick against the KXIP.

He had to remodel his bowling action after he was reported for suspect action during the Champions League, 2014, and since then he stopped bowling at the death. He is still at KKR after being retained by them and now bowls only during the middle overs.

#1 Saeed Ajmal

2011 ICC World Cup Semi-Final Preview - India v Pakistan
Ajmal was ranked No.1 in ICC Rankings

The Champion off-spinner from Pakistan was dominating world cricket, but things didn't go his way for too long as he had issues with his bowling arm while delivering the doosra. He was banned from bowling the doosra, which was his striking weapon.

After the doosra was banned, Ajmal was never the same bowler again as he struggled to make a major impact with the ball like he used to do.

His old action was so productive that he had 178 Test scalps and 184 ODI scalps and went on to top the ICC bowler rankings and stayed there for quite a while.

Though off-spin was his stock ball, he took most of the wickets with the help of his doosra which was very difficult to read.

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Edited by Alan John