'Unprofessional' Ross Taylor should concentrate on his batting, slams Sarfraz Ahmed

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Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed has called Ross Taylor 'disgraceful' after the Kiwi batsman tried to influence the field officials by signaling that Mohammad Hafeez was delivering with a bent arm. The situation got so heated up that eventually, the umpires had to step in to resolve the matter.

Hafeez has a long history with improper bowling action with the all-rounder getting suspended as many as three times for it. His bowling action was first reported 14 years back in 2005 when Pakistan were playing an ODI tri-series against Australia, but with the protocols for illegal actions different then Hafeez didn’t stay away for long.

The trouble started for him in 2014 when his action was picked up during the Champions League T20 and during a Test match against New Zealand. It was found that his elbow was bending more than the permissible 15 degrees. His bowling was stopped for the moment by the team but it again became a problem the very next year and ICC had to suspend him from bowling off-spin for 12 months. He tried bowling after a year and the issue hadn’t resolved either and the repetition cause yet another suspension in October 2017.

Hence, when Hafeez finally got the permission from ICC earlier this year in April and eventually another national call-up, he had to tread on a thin line. And he finally seemed to have got things right as he has so far, bowling 19 overs in one Test and six T20Is against Australia and New Zealand, without drawing any attention.

Even in the 1st ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand, the field officials looked unperturbed with his bowling action during the latest incident, and Taylor’s interruption understandably enraged Sarfraz. After Taylor’s gesture, which was seemingly pointed either at Tom Latham or at the officials, the skipper was seen having a long chat with the officials. The matter didn’t end there as Sarfraz kept bowling with Hafeez and was also seen in continuous conversation with the New Zealand batsman following which the umpires had to intervene. The skipper didn’t mince his words after the match either.

"I will say that Taylor's action was not correct. It's not his job to give (the) action which was shown on TV. It was disgraceful, for me. His job is to do batting and if he concentrates on that, it's better. I complained to umpires that his action did not come under sportsmanship. Ross is a professional cricketer and he should not have done that. He did it two or three times - it's (the) umpires' job. Hafeez's action has no problem and (Taylor) was trying to create an issue without a reason," said Sarfraz after the first ODI, reported ESPNCricinfo.

Hafeez hasn’t been the first Pakistan player to be at the receiving end as Saeed Ajmal was also pulled up for suspected bowling action after Australia’s Shane Watson had complained to the umpire pointing him to the way Ajmal was bowling his doosra.

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