
Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan does not think there is anything wrong in the way Harbhajan Singh bowls his 8216;doosra8217;, which was reported as suspect by an ICC match referee this week.
8216;8216;With the naked eye, I can8217;t see anything wrong with it. I don8217;t think there is a problem,8217;8217; Murali was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald today.
Murali also said he feared that constant scrutiny of spinners who bowl the 8216;doosra8217; could deter young bowlers from experimenting with the delivery in future. 8216;8216;Definitely it could,8217;8217; Murali said. 8216;8216;If that happened, it would be a loss for the game. I don8217;t know what the thinking is with umpires and match referees with this 8212; it is obviously a very sensitive issue, because you are dealing with bowlers8217; careers. But I think doosra is good for the game.8217;8217;
Like Muralitharan earlier this year, Harbhajan will now have his action reviewed by a special committee over six weeks and, if necessary, work to straighten his action when bowling the 8216;doosra8217;.
The reporting of Harbhajan comes at a time when the ICC is expected to adopt new guidelines on suspect bowling action at a meeting of the world8217;s chief executives in Melbourne early next year. The existing limit for spinners is 5 degrees, while medium pacers and pacemen are allowed to extend their elbows by 7.5 and 10 degrees respectively.