Mohammad Hafeez, the Lahore Lions captain, and Prenelan Subrayen of Dolphins – both off spinners, were reported for dubious actions during the Champions League Twenty20 2014 (CLT20 2014) game between the two sides on Saturday (September 27).
After the reports came out, Pakistani media and fans, who are already very frustrated after Saeed Ajmal’s ban, took to the social media and started blaming India for conspiring against Pakistan Cricket.
A popular Pakistani cricket website PakPassion posted this on their Facebook page:
“It’s getting RIDICULOUS and there seems to be an intentional targeted campaign against Pakistanis in India. First Adnan and now Hafeez. Even some sane INDIAN posters are shocked. Mind you, there used to be some ignorant Indian posters who agreed that their own players like Ojha and Harbhajan had suspected actions. BUT, they’d say, oh so they’re not playing international matches, who would report them? Let them play international first. How conveniently they ignored they can be reported even in such leagues, but they’ve been TOTALLY IGNORED and given a free pass, along with Sunil Narine who has a clear suspected action. Now, it’s clearly a targeted campaign against Pakistani players to ridicule them and humiliate them. If you want to report someone, DO IT EQUALLY and there should be justice for ALL!
Does PCB has any sense? For how long they’ll be a soft target? Why not take some strong action?”
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In my opinion, this is an entirely baseless allegation that highlights the frustration among the Pakistani media and fans. After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned Pakistani players from the Indian Premier League (IPL), Pakistani media and fans have made BCCI and IPL a soft target, and they tend to blame everything on them. Pakistani media and fans have all the rights to question the ban, but to blame BCCI and IPL without any strong evidence just shows their helplessness and irrational attitude towards solving a problem that is growing everywhere in the world, especially in Pakistan.
Earlier this month, to solve the growing problem of chucking, Pakistan suspended 16 bowlers with suspect actions.
“We have 29 bowlers reported for suspect bowling actions in the current home cricket season and half of them were reported twice, so we have banned around 16 from domestic matches. All these bowlers will not be allowed to play in domestic matches and will go to the national cricket academy to get their actions altered,” director of domestic cricket Inthikab Alam told reporters.
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The ban on Saeed Ajmal jolted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) into action to avoid further international embarrassment. This was a very bold and positive move by the PCB, to solve the growing problem of chucking. This will surely send a very strong message to all the budding spinners that they need to get it right. And, this is the right way of solving this issue.
Through this piece, I want to ask PakPassion, what do you mean by “a soft target” and why would BCCI want to bring down the Pakistani spinners by reporting them for suspect action?
And yes, as far taking a “strong” action is concerned, PCB have already taken a strong action by suspending 16 bowlers with suspect action.
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