Shakib’s bowling action questioned, BCB claims the allegations are baseless. Shakib Al Hasan is the world’s top all-rounder. He has ruled the field of professional cricket for nearly two decades.
In this long career, apart from the national team, he has played in almost all franchise leagues worldwide, including the IPL, CPL, BBL, and County. However, no one has ever questioned Shakib’s bowling action. Now, as his career approaches its twilight, an allegation has been raised against the left-arm spinner’s bowling action.
Shakib went to England last September to play county cricket. He played in this tournament after almost 13 years. This time, he played just one match for Surrey. In that match against Somerset, he took 4 wickets in the first innings and 5 in the second. It was during this match that questions about his bowling action were raised.
The county authorities have already informed Shakib of the issue. Very soon, he will undergo a bowling action test in a lab in England. If he wants to continue playing domestic cricket in England or county cricket, he must pass the bowling action test.
However, this only applies to playing in the County Championship. Despite the allegation of a suspect bowling action, there is no restriction on him playing international cricket or other domestic leagues. Therefore, this accusation has no relation to his absence from the Afghanistan series.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has labeled such information regarding Shakib’s bowling action as completely baseless. On Monday, November 4, the BCB stated that they have not received any reports regarding Shakib’s bowling action. BCB’s Senior Media Manager Rabid Imam said, “No questions or reports regarding Shakib’s bowling have come to BCB. Neither Surrey nor the ICC has informed us of any such information. This is entirely false and baseless news.”
In September, Shakib played for Surrey in the English County Championship against Somerset, where he took 9 wickets across two innings. Shakib bowled nearly 63.2 overs in that match, which is a significant portion of the match’s total overs. BCB authorities noted that if his bowling action were suspect, the umpires would have immediately reported it and informed the relevant club and board. However, no such report has been received.
Rabid Imam further mentioned that if Shakib’s action was questionable, he would not have been able to bowl in the recent two-Test series against India. However, he bowled in both Tests—21 overs in the first match and 14 in the second. Thus, there is no basis to this news.
