Pakistan's cricket team head coach Waqar Younis has questioned the timing of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) crackdown against chucking just months away from the World Cup and has suggested that rules on bowling actions could be relaxed for spinners.
The former pace great said that key all rounder Mohammed Hafeez's confidence was left shattered after he was reported for a suspect action in India's domestic tournament, the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20), a fresh blow to Pakistan following the loss of ace off-spinner Saeed Ajmal to a chucking ban.
Ajmal, the world's leading one-day bowler, faces a race against time to get his bowling action corrected by the World Cup, to be held from February to March in Australia and New Zealand, after being suspended earlier this month, The Dawn reported.
Ajmal was found to straighten his elbow up to 43 degrees, well beyond the 15-degree limit prescribed under the rules, the point where a kink becomes noticeable to the naked eye.
Since then, Hafeez and Sunil Narine have been among four players reported during CLT20. Though the action has no direct bearing on international cricket, Younis said that the bowlers would now be under intense scrutiny.
Younis questioned if it is the right time to enforce the protocols and the technology, adding that he is asking this because everyone plans ahead of the World Cup, and the suspensions would badly hit the teams whose bowlers have been suspended or questioned.
Younis said that he means the protocols and the technology should have been enforced after the World Cup.