Did Kane Williamson clear his suspect bowling action? Here's the truth

The Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) locked horns against each other in Match 17 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). With Sharjah being the venue, a run-fest was expected and the teams didn’t disappoint. SRH bowlers though came up with a plan and managed to dismiss the MI skipper Rohit Sharma early.

Even Suryakumar Yadav couldn’t convert yet another start as he got out to Siddarth Kaul. However, Ishan Kishan and Quinton de Kock stitched a good partnership to rebuild the innings and score runs at will. With both the left-handed batsmen in the middle, SRH skipper David Warner decided to introduce Kane Williamson into the attack, much to the surprise of the viewers.

Soon after the New Zealand skipper started to bowl, the fans on social media started questioning if his action is actually cleared by the ICC. Williamson’s action was deemed suspect during the Test match against Sri Lanka in August and was banned from bowling.

Can Kane Williamson bowl?

However, much to the SRH’s fans’ delight, Kane Williamson was cleared to bowl by the apex body in November last year itself. He underwent a change in his bowling action and was subsequently permitted by the ICC to bowl. “he International Cricket Council today confirmed that the bowling action of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has been found to be legal, and he can continue bowling in international cricket,” ICC had said in its statement.

As far as Kane Williamson’s performance with the ball is concerned, he failed to keep a lid on the run-scoring rate. The Kiwi cricketer conceded 24 runs including 17 in the second over of his spell. SRH came on the field with four specialist bowlers and Warner tried to complete the quota of the fifth bowler with Williamson and Abdul Samad.

They are also missing their ace pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who got injured in the game against the Chennai Super Kings a couple of days ago. While there is no update on his availability, his replacement, Sandeep Sharma fared decently on a flat track at Sharjah.