India146;s Murali clone under action scanner, needs 145;correction146;

Gujarat off-spinner in ICC8217;s u-19 World Cup suspect action list

A day after the International Cricket Council ICC identified 12 players with suspect bowling action during February8217;s under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, there are enough indications that one of them may be Gujarat off-spinner Monish Parmar.

Sources say the 18-year-old, who has modelled himself on Sri Lankan veteran Muthiah Muralitharan, has been asked to undergo 8216;8216;action correction8217;8217; by the ICC8217;s three-man Bowling Action Advisory Panel BAAP that was present during the Colombo event.

ICC8217;s media manager Brian Murgatroyd refused to confirm Parmar8217;s name or reveal details of the list. 8216;8216;We have forwarded the list to the boards and they are supposed to take remedial action. But only when players with suspect action have undergone correction can they play international cricket,8217;8217; he said.

A rattled BCCI neither confirmed or denied the development but dropped enough hints on Parmar. 8216;8216;I think he is there8230; I have forwarded the list to M P Pandove joint secretary who looks after junior cricket,8217;8217; said BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah.

Pandove said he had sent the list to the board headquarters in Mumbai, where BCCI executive secretary Professor Ratnakar Shetty said he hasn8217;t received it yet.

Javagal Srinath, the lone Indian representative in the ICC panel, refused to confirm Parmar8217;s name. But when asked about the Muralitharan angle, he said: 8216;8216;Things need to change. At a young age, one8217;s action can be corrected. If a youngster is willing, he can be successful even after a correction. Besides, someone getting unfair advantage by tweaking the rules isn8217;t good for the individual or the game.8217;8217;

Parmar, meanwhile, isn8217;t aware that his bowling arm is under the scanner. When asked about his action, he said, 8216;8216;I grew up watching Murali and always aspired to bowl like him. Initially, I used to bowl like him with a tennis ball and won quite a few games for my society. Gradually, I perfected the doosra and this season I got 21 wickets from four under-19 games.8217;8217;

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After his return from the World Cup, with figures of 4-1-9-1 in the final against Pakistan and five wickets from four games, Parmar was included in the Indian Oil team.

However, even at Colombo, eyebrows were raised over his action, especially after he had a Pakistan batsmen stumped by a near perfect Murali-like doosra in the final. Former West Indian pacer Ian Bishop, who was a commentator for the final, said after the match, 8216;8216;He is a good bowler but I wouldn8217;t recommend that he copy Murali8217;s action.8217;8217;