Mushtaq argues game's authorities should change stance on 15 degree permissable flexion limit

Since International Cricket Council began tightening the screws from June 2014, some big names have been suspended for suspect action with Pakistan off-spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez topping the list.

According to ICC rules, a bowler’s ‘elbow extension’ – closing and straightening of the elbow joint – should not be more than 15 degrees at the point of delivery and all those hauled up by the umpires were found to exceed the limit. Ajmal’s action hovered around 42 degrees while Hafeez’s was pegged at 31.

Mushtaq, who invented the ‘doosra’, the off-spinner’s wrong one, says there should be a rethink on the current rule.

“I feel 15 degrees is too little [for a bowler]. I urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to ask the ICC where they got this idea of 15 degrees,” Mushtaq told Sport360º yesterday during the team launch of Masters Champions League side Gemini Arabians.

“I spoke to a few members of the ICC when I was working with Ajmal [on remodeling his action], I told them that it is too less.

“As I am standing and talking to you, my arms are relaxed and even then there is a flex of at least 10 degrees. If you are bowling in a relaxed manner, some flex will automatically come in the bowling. They should rethink this rule,” he added, although he did not specify how much degrees it needs to be extended.

However, Mushtaq stresses bowlers must adhere to the rules and need to be smarter. He feels the doosra, pioneered by him and bowled by Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, India’s Harbhajan Singh and Ajmal can be bowled with a clean action.

Interestingly, the ICC had reported all three bowlers for dodgy actions while bowling the doosra during their playing career.

“You can bowl the doosra with a clean action,” insists Mushtaq, who caimed close to 500 wickets in his nine-year international career.

“One can always make a plan for when the ball bounces, swings or turns. If a wicket is flat then you change your pace or try something else to get swing or turn.

“Similarly with the doosra, if a bowler feels it isn’t that effective within the rules, then the strategy needs to change. Also, if the speed is not the same, then a bowler can use drift and dip to be effective,” he explained.

Mushtaq, who played 49 Tests and 149 one-dayers for Pakistan between 1995 and 2004, is delighted to turn out for Arabians in the MCL. “I last played competitive cricket in 2008 for Surrey. With MCL I feel like I am young again, taking my kit and getting on the field.”