Hafeez awaits India visa as deadline for ICC test is near end

Pakistan's experienced all-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez is due to fly to Chennai today for his bowling assessment test but is still awaiting a visa from the Indian authorities

Karachi: Pakistan's experienced all-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez is due to fly to Chennai today for his bowling assessment test but is still awaiting a visa from the Indian authorities.


Mohammad Hafeez 

A PCB source said that as per program Hafeez was due to be tested at the ICC accredited biomechanics laboratory in Chennai tomorrow and would return to Colombo the next day to be available for the third Test that begins on July 3. "But he has yet to get a visa from the Indian authorities.

If it is delayed then we have already asked the International Cricket Council to extend the 14-days deadline for bowlers reported with illegal bowling actions to undergo a bowling assessment test at an ICC accredited centre," he said.

Hafeez, a batting allrounder who bowls off-spin, was reported by match officials for having an illegal bowling action for the second time within a year during the first test against Sri Lanka at Galle few days back. Under ICC laws he has to undergo a bowling assessment test within 14-days and can continue to bowl during this
period which he did during the second test in Colombo which ended on Monday.

If he fails the ICC test he can be banned from bowling for 12-months. The source said the bowling assessment test date for Hafeez was June 30th in Chennai. "We have agreed to Chennai as Hafeez has had his bowling action review there before the World Cup and he was cleared to bowl again by authorities at the bowling assessment centre," the source said.

Pakistan lost two of their most valuable spinners Saeed Ajmal and Hafeez to illegal bowling actions last year while playing in Sri Lanka and in the UAE.

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