Usman Tariq took 3 wickets against the USA in Pakistan's last match
He has been reported twice for his action in Pakistan's domestic T20 league
India will face Pakistan in a marquee clash in Colombo on February 15
Usman Tariq is one of Pakistan cricket team's new finds in the T20 format. Ever since the 28-year-old spinner has taken the field at the international stage, he's garnered much more limelight out of the field rather than inside.
Usman Tariq has a unique action and a slight pause in his bowling which has caused a furore not among fans but also in the cricketing circle.
Along with a controversial action and run-up, what Tariq possesses are multiple variations and actions with which he bowls. There have been many controversies regarding his bowling action in the past, be it being reported for illegal action or being called out by opposition players.
The most recent controversy in which he was involved was in a T20I match against Australia before the World Cup, where Cameron Green imitated his action to his teammates as if the Aussie all-rounder was questioning the legality of Tariq's action.
Can Umpires Stop Usman Tariq From Bowling Against India?
As Pakistan will face India in their next marquee clash at Colombo on February 15, the talks about Usman Tariq's bowling action have intensified, and people are debating if the umpires could stop the tall-spinner from bowling during the match, if the Indian team objects, or they themselves feel so:
When it comes to the legality of Usman Tariq's action, he has been reported twice for it and has been cleared by the ICC both times. Even if the umpires feel that the action is suspicious, they cannot stop him from bowling during the match.
They can report his action again, but that can be done only after the match.
However, what can stop him is the pause that he takes in between his run-up before delivering the bowl.
If the umpires feel that the pause is taken by the bowler to distract the batter, then they can always call it a dead ball. ICC has a provision in this regard, which they introduced back in 2014 to stop bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Hafeez, who used to pause in their load-up to break the batter's momentum and induce a false shot from them.
Since then, we haven't seen them implementing it as this phenomenon was halted as bowlers corrected their run-up, but Usman Tariq could re-ignite another controversy once again if he continues with a stop-start run-up and the umpire decides to crack the whip.
