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

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.