New Delhi: Off-spinners could be in danger of becoming an endangered species as exponents fall by the wayside in the recent crackdown on illegal bowling actions by cricket's world governing body.
Ever since the International Cricket Council (ICC) accepted a recommendation by its cricket committee in June to punish bowlers with suspect actions, off-spinners have become the main target.
Of the seven bowlers hauled up since then, six were off spinners: the Pakistani duo of Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez, Sri Lanka's Sachitra Senanayake, Kane Williamson of New Zealand, Zimbabwe's Prosper Utseya and Sohag Gazi of Bangladesh.
The seventh, Al-Amin Hossain of Bangladesh, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, was a fast bowler.
On Tuesday, the ICC allowed Senanayake and Williamson to resume bowling in international cricket, saying they had undergone remedial work and remodelled their actions which were now legitimate.
But the governing body warned that umpires were "still at liberty to report these bowlers in future if they believe the bowler is displaying a suspect action."
The crackdown has wrecked Pakistan's spin attack, even though they are hopeful that Ajmal, the top-ranked one-day bowler, will be allowed to play in next year's World Cup once he is re-tested.
There is also a question mark over the participation of second-ranked Sunil Narine of the West Indies in the sport's showpiece event that takes place in Australia and New Zealand from February 14.
Narine was withdrawn from a one-day series in India in October and has not been picked for the upcoming Tests in South Africa after being reported by umpires during the Champions League Twenty20 tournament in September.
Even though Narine is not barred from playing international cricket, it is plausible that a worried West Indies team management has wrapped him in cotton wool and asked him to rework his action.
That has left Ravichandran Ashwin of India, Nathan Lyon of Australia and England's James Tredwell as the only established off-spinners still plying their trade.
"Of course illegal actions must be punished, but one gets the feeling umpires look at off-spinners more closely than other bowlers," a former India player, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
"Off-spin is a great art. I hope young bowlers do not get scared of learning it."
