Cricket loves a good mystery, especially when it involves a veteran who has seen too much, done too much, and still manages to surprise everyone. So when Shakib Al Hasan casually admitted that he had bowled with an illegal action “a little bit intentionally” during his county stint with Surrey, the cricket world blinked twice. Intentional? From a man who has navigated international cricket for nearly two decades with icy calm?
However, when you remove the layers of the scandal, the tale turns from scandalous to human. After bowling over seventy overs during the four-day match against Somerset at Taunton (the largest amount of overs he has ever delivered in a first-class match), Shakib had just completed two consecutive test matches in Pakistan, where he had been subjected to an intense workload that would have strained even the fittest of all-rounders.
When his tired body overcompensated and his action slipped beyond the 15-degree tolerance, the umpires followed protocol, and the ICC’s suspension kicked in. No drama, just the collision of fatigue and biomechanics. And hidden in that collision is a bigger conversation cricket rarely wants to have.
Accumulated Fatigue Altering Technique
Shakib’s revelation shines a harsh light on how repetitive overs can warp technique when fatigue becomes chronic. Bowling 33.5 and 29.3 overs in separate innings is not just a workload; it’s a biomechanical negotiation. Under exhaustion, the front arm drifts, the torso over-rotates, and the elbow hyperextends to compensate. These aren’t deliberate shortcuts; they’re the body’s survival instincts. Shakib simply verbalised what countless bowlers quietly experience.
The Umpiring Question Cricket Never Settles
His complaint wasn’t outrage; it was curiosity. Shakib said he expected a warning before being reported, a reminder that cricket’s reporting mechanism has always felt inconsistent. Some bowlers get quiet nudges, others get immediate paperwork. In his case, the umpires followed the book strictly. If anything, this incident exposes how cricket still struggles to balance discretion with regulation.
The Weird Journey Through Testing Rooms
What followed was straight out of a bureaucratic thriller. Shakib failed his first test at Loughborough. Then he failed a second one in Chennai. Meanwhile, the BCB clarified he could still play as a batter, prompting a surreal scenario where Bangladesh’s greatest allrounder was technically allowed to bat in internationals but barred from bowling anywhere on the planet. Only after a third assessment again at Loughborough was he cleared. And his reaction? “It’s so easy.” The irony writes itself.
Shakib Al Hasan’s situation fits neatly into that historical context, except for the fact that he has been honest about his situation; Shakib said that fatigue caused him to cut a few corners, which is very refreshing, however, the fact that he had to admit to it, highlights the fact that, even today, the game of cricket has not found a solution to how to balance the workload of allrounders who continue to play at an advanced age.
Shakib’s suspension is not about him doing something wrong. The suspension is about a star player of Shakib’s age being unable to continue playing at his level due to the amount he has played in the last few years. Shakib’s comments have forced Cricket to consider its policy on heavy workloads for ageing players and how much a player can technically play and survive. If nothing else, Shakib’s rapid return shows that there was no structural issue with what he did, but rather an incident of a momentary loss of concentration while under severe pressure.
Key Takeaway
Shakib’s ban wasn’t a scandal; it was a workload alarm.
FAQs
- What caused Shakib’s bowling action to be reported?
Fatigue from an unusually heavy workload in county cricket altered his mechanics.
- Why did he admit the illegal action was intentional?
He felt exhaustion made him subconsciously compensate, leading to unintentional extension.
- How did he return to bowling?
After failing two assessments, he corrected his actions through training and passed a third test at Loughborough.
Disclaimer: This blog post reflects the author’s personal insights and analysis. Readers are encouraged to consider the perspectives shared and draw their own conclusions.
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