ICC pulls up Dharmasena

The legality of Dharmasena’s bowling action has been questioned by officials concerned during the England tour and has been reported to ICC after the tour, the newspaper said.

A special committee of the ICC, which viewed television footage of Dharmasena’s bowling, has concluded that his action was not satisfactory and asked him to take corrective measures.

“The committee has also insisted that the bowler should not be included in any international game until he changes and corrects his bowling action,” it said.

Dharmasena, who had a very lean tour ofEngland, has been dropped for the tour of Australia where Sri Lanka will play a triangular one-day series with Australia and England.

Dharmasena’s bowling action came under suspicion of the ICC in the past also but the Lankan board consistently denied the reports saying that it has not received any official communication.

“One only hopes that the present cricket board will take all necessary steps to rectify the action of Kumara Dharmasena and ensure that he becomes eligible for national selection again,” the newspaper said.

Dharmasena is the third off-spinner after Indians Rajesh Chauhan and Harbhajan Singh who has been asked to take corrective measures by the ICC in recent times.

Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan had also come under ICC scrutiny for `chucking’ but was later cleared of the charges as he had a permanent defect in his arm.