Hafeez withdraws from BPL following bowling suspension

KARACHI: Pakistani all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has withdrawn himself from the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League after being suspended from bowling following an independent assessment of his bowling action found his action to be illegal.

Hafeez confirmed to Geo.tv that he has decided against going to Dhaka and joining his BPL team Comilla Victorians for the remainder of the league.

“I will stay here and work on my bowling action,” Hafeez said.

Hafeez was earlier scheduled to leave for Dhaka on Friday to join the team Comilla Victorians for the remainder of BPL matches. He was picked by the team as a genuine all-rounder but the ICC's decision meant that he wouldn’t have been able to contribute with the ball.

The bowler has now requested the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to assign a coach to work with him to remodel his bowling action so that he can apply for a reassessment as soon as possible.

A statement from ICC had earlier stated that Hafeez has been suspended from bowling in international cricket and the decision will be enforced domestic tournaments as well with a conditional eligibility to bowl in tournaments under auspices of PCB.

Following ICC’s decision, Hafeez expressed his disappointment but aimed to work hard to regain his position.

“Saddened to know the result of my bowling action from ICC, (but) it would never pull me down, (I) will never give up” Hafeez posted on his twitter.

“(I have) worked so hard to remodeled it & will work again twice harder to get better to serve my beloved country Pakistan & achieve more,” he aimed with hashtag of “NO1 ALLROUNDER”

The 37-year-old has represented Pakistan in 50 Tests, 195 ODIs and 81 T20Is.