Suburban
Bangladesh pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman has had an injury scare ahead of the upcoming white-ball series against Zimbabwe.
Cricbuzz has learnt that the left-arm pacer has Mustafizur sustained Grade 1 tear in his right ankle and is expected to miss the first match of the ODI series on Friday, July 16.
The left-arm pace bowler could bowl only five overs in Bangladesh’s warm-up match against Zimbabwe Select XI, due to discomfort in his ankle. He was called in by the team management and given ice therapy.
There was, though, some good news when it came to Tamim Iqbal who had missed the one-off Test. The opener brushed aside injury worries with a 62-ball 66 that helped Bangladesh to 296/5 in their stipulated 50 overs after they elected to bat first.
Earlier, Mushfiqur Rahim opted out of the white-ball series as he had to return home for family reasons.
The ODIs are scheduled on July 16, 18 and 20 in Harare, while the three T20Is will be played on July 23, 25 and 27 at the same venue.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s offspinning-allrounder Roy Kaia has been reported with a suspect bowling action during the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Harare.
Kaia bowled a combined 23 overs across two innings without picking up a wicket. With bat, he bagged a pair as Bangladesh went on to win the match by 220 runs.
An expert panel will analyse the video footage of his bowling action from the Test as an in-person assessment at an ICC accredited testing centre is not possible due to various restrictions resulting from Covid-19. Until the panel makes its decision known, Kaia can continue bowling in international cricket.
Kaia, 29, first played for Zimbabwe in an ODI in Pakistan in 2015, when he was picked more for his batting abilities. That remains his only appearance in while-ball cricket for the country. He made his Test debut earlier this year, also against Pakistan. The Test against Bangladesh was the third of his career.
He has over 100 wickets in domestic cricket but hasn’t picked up one at the international level so far.
Some resolute batting and dropped catches held up Bangladesh before they completed a crushing 220-run win over Zimbabwe on the final day of the one-off test at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
Needing a world record 477 to win, the hosts were all out for 256 after a brave innings from nightwatchman Donald Tiripano and fast-medium bowler Blessing Muzarabani delayed the tourists’ celebrations.
“The match officials’ report, which was handed over to the Zimbabwe team management, cited concerns about the legality of the 29-year-old offspinner’s bowling action,” the ICC statement said.
Video of the suspect bowling incident will now be assessed by an expert panel, the statement added.
“Kaia is permitted to continue bowling in international cricket until the conclusions of the expert panel’s review are known,” it said.
Roy Kaia
Kaia has featured in three Tests and one ODI for Zimbabwe since his debut in 2015.
He joins a list of other Zimbabwean bowlers, whose bowling actions have been investigated by the ICC.These include off-spinner and former captain Prosper Utseya, fast medium bowler Brian Vitori, Blessing Mahwire, and Malcolm Waller.
According to the ICC, an illegal bowling action is where a player is throwing rather than bowling the ball.
This is defined by the ICC as being where the player’s elbow extends by an amount of more than 15 degrees between their arm, reaching the horizontal and the ball being released.
Match officials in international cricket use the naked eye and their cricketing experience to decide whether they believe a player may be using an illegal bowling action and, if so, they will submit a report.
The player is then tested at an ICC-accredited testing centre, using state-of-the-art technology and supervised by experts in the science of human movement. — cricbuzz/espn/supersport
