ICC bans Akila Dananjaya from bowling for 12 months due to illegal action

Akila Dananjaya, a young spinner who has been a consistent member of the Test squad for Sri Lanka has been banned for 12 months from bowling by ICC due to illegal action. He has been exceptional with the ball for Sri Lanka in the recent past. In a total of six Test matches, he has picked 33 wickets, at an economy of 3.54 which is decent and has also bagged 46 wickets in 30 One-Day Internationals and 14 wickets in 16 T20Is.

ICC informed its verdict to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as Dananjaya has been banned with an immediate effect and will not be able to bowl till 29th August 2020. After this decision, Sri Lanka is hit with a major blow as they have lost the Akila Dananjaya’s services with World Test Championship in progress.

Dananjaya banned for second time in two years

Previously too the 25-year-old has been reported for suspect action following Sri Lanka’s first Test against England in 2018 and was then suspended as well.

This time his action came into suspicion during a Test match against New Zealand which was being played at Galle. Then at the expense of the ICC, Dananjaya travelled to Sri Ramachandra Institute in Chennai for the biomechanical assessment under the supervision of Dr Aditya and Mr Gnanavel and their team.

According to the reports of the spinner, his standard delivery was inconsistent and ranged from 4-17 degrees. Few of his deliveries went over the permitted limit of 15 degrees as per bdcrictime. The data in the report was verified by Dr Andrea Cutti, the ICC’s Human Movement Specialist.

He will now undergo to work on his action and will be allowed to resume bowling in international cricket if his modified action passes the 15-degree rule. Currently, the Sri Lankan team will be heading towards Pakistan for a three-match T20I series and ODI. This is the first tour of the islanders after 2009 attack that risked the life of some of the players of Sri Lanka.

Akila Dananjaya was one of those 10 players who opted to pull out of the Pakistan tour due to security reasons as they don’t feel safe to travel to Pakistan for any type of activity related to cricket.

JUST IN: Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months due to an illegal bowling action.

More to follow… pic.twitter.com/AnI9s0J1EK

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 19, 2019

Watch – CricTracker’s World Cup 2019 Cinematic Awards