Top 5 bowlers with the most suspect bowling action of all time

The game of cricket has had a history of controversies involving bowling styles. Many bowlers from time to time were called in matches for illegal actions where they were found to be bending their arms while delivering the ball. Earlier the bowlers were supposed to rotate their arm completely without any bending.

The rule was amended and the bowlers were given an elbow extension of up to 15 degrees, so as to help players.

Spin bowling is a very complex art in cricket and bowlers use all sorts of tricks to trouble the batsmen. Saqlain Mushtaq from Pakistan had introduced the ‘Doosra’ which turned the other way round as opposed to the normal off-break. It required a certain extension of the elbow to execute the delivery. Many off spinners adopted that delivery but were deemed in trouble for illegal actions. Here are some of the bowlers who had the most suspicious bowling actions:

5) Marlon Samuels

The tall off-spinner from the Caribbean had a pretty complicated action. He used to dance to the crease and deliver the ball from side on. But it was his quicker delivery that caused him the most trouble. He would bend the arm over the permissible limit and gain extra yards to the ball.

The part-timer was reported for a suspicious action in 2008 and was suspended for close to 4 years. He was allowed to resume in 2011 after remedial work. He was reported again in 2013 and was stopped from bowling his quicker deliveries but he could continue the normal off-spin.

In 2015, he was again suspended from bowling and subsequently banned for 12 months as he was reported twice within two years. He was only a part-time bowler and not the most effective one yet he was in the thick of things due to the multiple suspensions.

4) Johan Botha

The Proteas’ all-rounder bowls the off-spinner as well as the doosra. He was under the scanner right from the start as he was reported for an illegal action after his very first test match in 2006. He was suspended from bowling a month later and failed to get a clearance as he was exceeding the permissible limit.

Later that year he was cleared by the ICC and made a national comeback in 2007. After 2 years, he was again reported and his doosra was found to have an extension of 26.7 degrees which was way ahead of the allowed limit.

He was later cleared by ICC and kept playing for South Africa. The right-hander continues playing for various T20 franchises around the globe.

3) Muttiah Muralitharan

The Sri Lankan maestro who is the all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests and ODIs had a highly controversial career. He used to bowl from the back of the hand and had a unique bowling style. His action was questioned on numerous occasions by umpires and cricket authorities.

In 1995, in a Boxing Day test between Australia and Sri Lanka, umpire Darrell Hair accused him of throwing the ball and no-balled him 7 times in 3 overs. A huge outrage resulted as the then captain Arjuna Ranatunga walked off the field with his team in protest. Consequently, Hair was excluded from officiating in matches involving Sri Lanka.

Murali’s action was cleared twice by ICC in 1996 and then in 1999. Later in 2004, his doosra came into question and was found illegal. A study revealed that most bowlers were breaching the limit of 5 degrees at that time and so the limit was extended to 15. A lot of allegations were thrown at the ICC that the decision was made to accommodate Murali only.

2) Saeed Ajmal

Having an action pretty similar to Saqlain Mushtaq’s, Ajmal’s bowling proved to be a nightmare for the batsmen. He made a very late test debut at the age of 31 but soon made up for the lost time as he picked up wickets at a rate of knots. In just his 20^th test, he became the fastest Pakistani bowler to take 100 test wickets.

In 2009, he was reported for a suspicious action but received a clearance from the ICC. The off-spinner then played a pioneering role in Pakistan’s triumph in the 2009 World T20. He continued shining for the team for the next 5 years until 2014 when he was again the under the screws from ICC. This time, all his deliveries were found to be breaking the regulations.

He was suspended from bowling and was asked to remodel the action. Saqlain Mushtaq was called up by the board to work with him. But he failed to rectify the action and had to withdraw his name from the 2015 ODI world cup squad.

1) Sunil Narine

The T20 specialist from the West Indies had the batsmen dancing on his tunes with his both ways spin bowling. He bowls the off break and the knuckle ball which goes the other way with a negligible change in action. Narine’s fantastic ability helped him become the number 1 bowler in T20Is and also helped Kolkata Knight Riders win the IPL a couple of times.

In the 2014 Champions League T20, he was reported for illegal action two matches in a row and was banned from bowling in the final. He then withdrew himself from the West Indies squad for the 2015 ODI World Cup. After over a year, he made a comeback to the national side but was suspended, this time by the ICC.

He had to withdraw himself from the 2016 World T20 as well to work on remodelling the action. Later he was given a go to bowl again but his changed action hasn’t been as effective as before. He is not able to turn the ball as much and the magic of Narine surely seems to have disappeared.