ICC T20 World Cup 2016: Bangladesh bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny suspended

Bangladesh's ICC T20 World Cup 2016 campaign has suffered a blow as bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny have been suspended with immediate effect after an independent assessment found their bowling actions illegal. Taskin, the pace spearhead and Sunny, the left-arm spinner, underwent assessments in Chennai after being reported for suspect actions during the World T20 qualifiers against the Netherlands.

Their bowling actions were assessed at the Sri Ramachandra University and the International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that their actions have been deemed illegal.

"Arafat's analysis revealed that the elbow extension for a majority of his deliveries had exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions while not all of Taskin's deliveries were legal," said an ICC statement as quoted by Livemint.

"Arafat's and Taskin's international suspensions will also be recognized and enforced by all the members for domestic cricket events played in their own jurisdiction. However with the consent of Bangladesh Cricket Board, the two bowlers may be able to play in domestic cricket events played in Bangladesh under its auspices."

Taskin and Arafat are not the first Bangladesh bowlers to be suspended for illegal action. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak was the first to be suspended in November 2008, before the ban was lifted in March 2009. Spinner Sohag Gazi was suspended from bowling in 2014 and was cleared in February 2015, while Al-Amin Hossain was reported for a suspect action in 2014, but was cleared after an assessment in Chennai.

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