London. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has asked Shakib Al Hasan to get his bowling action checked. The ECB has asked Shakib to do so after the umpires reported Shakib’s bowling action while playing for Surrey in the County Championship. Shakib, 37, took nine wickets in the title match against Somerset at Taunton in September. Shakib was playing in the County Championship for the first time since 2010–11. With eight England players on national duty, Shakib signed a short-term deal with Surrey in the absence of two key spinners, Will Jacques and Dan Lawrence. However, Shakib could not prevent Somerset from winning by 111 runs and Surrey failed to win their third consecutive Championship title. In that match, Shakib had bowled more than 63 overs but not once during his bowling was any ball declared a no ball citing throwing.
Now it has come to light that the onfield umpires had found his bowling action suspicious. He has not been barred from playing but ESPNcricinfo has learned that talks are underway to have Shakib’s action tested at an approved venue. There is a possibility that this will happen in the next few weeks. This is the first time in Shakib’s two decade long career that his bowling action has become the subject of any kind of scrutiny. During this period, Shakib has taken 712 wickets in 447 matches in his international career, which includes 246 wickets in 71 Tests. Shakib’s international cricket is currently hanging in the balance. Due to security reasons, he had withdrawn his name from the Test squad against South Africa last month. He has also been an MP in the Awami League-led government, which fell in July due to student agitation.