Jasprit Bumrah was the highest wicket taker of the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets from five Tests
Australian media has kicked up a storm by patching together unconnected incidents to assuage the recent controversy surrounding spinner Matthew Kuhnemann’s bowling action in Sri Lanka.
Left arm spinner Kuhnemann’s bowling action was reported as suspect following his heroics in the two Tests against Sri Lanka where he picked up 16 wickets. Kuhnemann’s contributions were significant in Australia winning the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy 2-0 on Sri Lankan soil for the first time since 2011.
The 28-year-old is set to undergo an independent test for his bowling action at an ICC-accredited centre.
Soon after the complaint was lodged Cricket Australia had put out a statement saying, “Cricket Australia will liaise closely with the ICC and independent experts in line with ICC regulations. No further comment will be made by Cricket Australia or Matthew until the matter is resolved.”
However, former Australian Test captain Tim Paine took a different route trying to make sense of the issue.
“I think there’s a bit of flexion, not dissimilar to a Jasprit Bumrah. I think he’d be flat as a tack I’d imagine. In cricket, being accused of throwing is not a great mark to have against your name. You’re being accused in a way, of cheating,” Paine said while talking on SEN Radio.
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Bumrah’s action has been deemed legal as his elbow doesn’t flex beyond the permissible 15-degree limit despite many targeting his bowling previously.
While Paine has taken Bumrah’s example, Aussie writer Ben Horne lambasted the ICC over action against Kuhnemann saying that they had let Virat Kohli off the hook despite his confrontation with teenage opener Sam Konstas during the fourth Test at Melbourne.
“Virat Kohli was hit with one of the softest sanctions of all time, yet match officials in Sri Lanka were happy to make an example out of a five-Test orthodox spinner over a marginal bowling action. They are completely different situations that don’t even belong in the same conversation other than the all too familiar running theme that the game’s governing body is sport’s biggest toothless tiger…until an easy target (Kuhnemann) presents itself,” Horne wrote on his column for Daily Telegraph.
Kohli was given a demerit point for bumping into Konstas and fined 20 per cent of his match fee. After the series, the duo had buried the hatchet as Kohli was spotted having a smiling conversation with Konstas after the final Test in Sydney. Konstas himself had waved off the seriousness of the situation after the series, calling Kohli one of his idols.
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