Pakistan cricket team manager Intikhab Alam expressed confidence on Saturday that off-spinner Bilal Asif’s bowling action will be cleared.
“I am 99.9 per cent confident that Bilal Asif’s bowling action will be cleared in the bowling assessment Test,” Alam said.
Alam said he had closely watched the videos of Bilal’s bowling action and also spoken to International Cricket Council (ICC) officials about it.
A”From what we have seen he doesn’t appear to bend his elbow and infact uses his wrist more with a straight arm to get purchase from the ball,” he added.
Further, the team manager has not ruled out the possibility of including the off-spinning all-rounder for the remaining two Test matches against England in UAE. Alam claimed the team needs a third spinner for the ongoing test series against England. “We need a third proper spinner in the side and after the first test we will be talking about it,” he said.
Responding to a question whether Bilal could be considered as the third spinner for the Tests, Alam said, “If he clears his test why not. They are some left handers in the England side and Asif impressed in the one-day series in Zimbabwe.”
Bilal, who took a five-wicket haul in only his second ODI, will be sent to Chennai on Sunday for a test at the ICC accredited bio-mechanic laboratory the following day for his bowling action that was reported during a series with Zimbabwe.
Further, Alam denied that Bilal’s bowling action appeared to have the same issues that plagued Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez.
Bilal is the third Pakistan player to face questions on his bowling action ever since the International Cricket Council (ICC) launched a crackdown in June last year, with off-spinners Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez also being reported.
