The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Harbhajan's doosra under the scanner again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 22, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Harbhajan's doosra under the scanner again

By S. Dinakar

BANGALORE, MARCH 21. Harbhajan Singh has come under the chucking cloud for the third time in his eight-year international career. The Indian off-spinner was reported to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a suspect bowling action after the conclusion of the second TVS Cup Test in Kolkata on Sunday.

Harbhajan picked up four wickets for 145 runs in the match and India won the Test by 195 runs, but match referee Chris Board and standing umpires Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor, were not pleased with his action, particularly when he sent down the doosra, the delivery leaving the right-hander, in the second innings.

In his report to the ICC, Broad has said, "The report relates specifically to the bowler's action when delivering the doosra. It was noticeable to the umpires and me that there was an apparent change in his action when bowling this delivery between the first innings, when no concerns were raised, and the second."

According to ICC's fresh laws on bowling action that came into force from March 1, the maximum flexion of the arm for both pacemen and the spinners was fixed at 15 degrees, the point where the action first appears illegal to the naked eye. Harbhajan is the first bowler to be pulled up for an illegal action under the new rules.

As per the ICC's latest process for determining an illegal action, Harbhajan will now have to get his action analysed by an independent member of the ICC's panel of human movement specialists, whose report will have to be submitted within 21 days.

And no later than 14 days of the completion of the analysis, a complete report will have to be sent to the ICC. Until this stage of the process, it is at the discretion of the Board whether it continues to select a player for international cricket. Harbhajan, if the BCCI desires, is eligible to play the third Test against Pakistan.

It was only in December last that Harbhajan was reported for chucking by Broad during the second India - Bangladesh Test in Chittagong. Alim Dar and Mark Benson were the standing umpires in that match.

Harbhajan had his action reviewed by leading Australian bio-mechanist Bruce Elliott, who cleared him. The ICC accepted Elliott's findings and Harbahjan was subsequently picked in the squad for the first Test against Pakistan that began at Mohali on March 8. The offie could not find a place in the eleven though on a grass-laden surface.

It was in 1998 that Harbhajan first came under the chucking scanner and he travelled to England for a stint to correct his action under former English off-spinner Fred Titmus.

The sardar made his Test debut in Bangalore against Mark Taylor's Australians in 1997-98 and it was in the Garden City that Harbhajan staged a Test comeback in October last year against the formidable Aussies, after recovering from a career-threatening finger injury that required a surgery.

Harbhajan, who now has 193 wickets in 44 Tests at 28.08, surpassed Erapalli Prasanna's record of 189 wickets, the previous record by an Indian off-spinner in Tests, in Kolkata. The Punjab bowler also has 117 wickets in 93 ODIs at 29.11.

He is also the only Indian bowler to record a Test hat-trick, a feat he achieved in the Kolkata Test of 2001 against Steve Waugh's Australians. Harbhajan and V.V.S. Laxman were the major players in India's sensational 2-1 series triumph.

Harbhajan, among skipper Sourav Ganguly's favourite bowlers, and leg-spinner Anil Kumble formed a winning spin combination, particularly at home, with the close catching cordon in place. Subsequently, the off-spinner's bowling action, especially while delivering the doosra, has come under increasing scrutiny.

In the recent Kolkata Test, Harbhajan sparingly used the doosra in the first innings, and one of those deliveries found the edge of Younis Khan's bat and flew wide off slip. In the Pakistan second innings, as India moved towards a victory on the final day, he bowled both Kamran Akmal, a century-maker in the first Test, and No. 11 Danish Kaneria, with the doosra.

The coming days will be a test of his temperament as well as his bowling technique.

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