Bangladesh duo Sunny and Taskin suspended from bowling

The ICC has suspended Bangladesh’s Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed from bowling in international cricket, meaning the Tigers will have to apply for approval to replace them in their World Twenty20 squad.

Sunny and Taskin were reported following Bangladesh’s victory over Netherlands in their Group A opener on March 9 and further testing has found the pair’s actions to be illegal.

The ICC confirmed the news on Saturday, and comes as a severe blow to the Tigers, who lost their first Super 10 fixture against Pakistan on Wednesday.

Seamer Taskin and slow left-armer Sunny took 2-32 and 2-34 respectively in that 55-run defeat, but Bangladesh will now have to apply to replace the suspended duo.

“Arafat’s analysis revealed that the elbow extension for majority of his deliveries had exceeded the 15 degrees’ level of tolerance permitted under the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions, while not all of Taskin’s deliveries were legal,” read an ICC statement.

Bangladesh’s next outing in the tournament comes against Australia in Bangalore on Monday.