Saqlain Mushtaq wants ICC to look into 15-degree elbow rule for bowlers

Former Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has as a suggestion for the International Cricket Council (ICC) and, that is regarding the current rule of 15-degree arm/elbow law for spin bowlers. Over the past few years, several actions, especially of off-spinners, have come under the scanner due to this particular law. Mushtaq too was one of them who asked to work on his action due to the law.

Recently, Mohammad Hafeez was time and again suspended for bowling off-spin due to the 15-degree law. He had also urged ICC to look into the rule so that other aspiring off-spinners play with more freedom. Now Mushtaq thinks that the ICC should review the law and make the necessary changes accordingly.

He further opined the West Indies, Asians, and other countries’ players, all have different methods and techniques in bowling and the ICC should reconsider this once. “I would like to know how the ICC experts reached this conclusion of allowing only 15-degrees latitude to bowlers. Did they research on Asian players, Caribbean players, others because everyone is different”.

“Asian players’ bodies are different, they tend to have more flexibility in their arms and some have hypermobile joints. If you look at Caribbean and English players their bodies are different,” Saqlain said in an interview to Cricket Next.

Players who used to bowl off-spin now becoming leg-spinners or wrist spinners: Saqlain Mushtaq

Due to the rule, a lot of aspiring young off-spinners are now skeptical to take spin as their primary source of the wicket-taking weapon. Mushtaq believes that without the 15-degree law, off-spinners can bowl ‘doosra’ or a topspin, but since it is in place, more and more off-spinners are turning out to be leg-spinners and wrist spinners.

“I personally believe that one can bowl off-breaks, doosra, and topspin even within the law but since it came out I have seen players who used to bowl off-spin now becoming leg-spinners or wrist spinners, he said.”

The former off-spinner concluded by saying that top teams nowadays rely on wrist spinners more especially in white-ball formats. “It is an ongoing trend in white-ball formats that teams want to have maximum wrist spinners like India has Chahal and Yadav, Australia has Adam Zampa and Stephenson, England has Adil Rashid, etc And this is discouraging players from taking up the art of off-spin bowling.”