Pragyan Ojha's Ban Does Not Surprise Sunil Gavaskar
Pragyan Ojha was banned from bowling in competitive cricket due to a suspect action.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha being banned from bowling in competitive cricket due to an illegal action might have surprised some people, but not former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar.
Speaking to NDTV, Gavaskar said that the 28-year-old's action did raise question during certain deliveries of not all. He felt that sometimes in order to get more spin, Ojha would expose a kink in his action.
"If you had seen him bowl in Tests, we were all raising our eyebrows at some of the deliveries he bowled, not all, but some. Maybe the effort ball where he was trying to get a lot more spin, impart a lot more spin, there was definitely a kink in his bowling action," he said.
However, Gavaskar saw this as a blessing in disguise for Ojha, saying that as he was still young he can still rectify his action and hopefully come back into the Indian team.
"Well, it's good for him, because he is still a very young man. If he can remedy his action and come back he will be pretty useful for India. Maybe that actually explains why Akshar Patel and not Pragyan Ojha went to Australia as a replacement for Ravindra Jadeja."
According to reports, Ojha's action has been under the scanner for over a year now, which probably explains why he hasn't played for India since November 2013.
He will be heading to Chennai for taking corrective measures. The BCCI had officially informed Ojha's home state association Hyderabad about his action needing remedial measures and accordingly he was withdrawn from the team's Ranji Trophy home encounter against Services starting on Sunday.