Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar dismissed the growing debate surrounding Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq’s bowling action, saying there was nothing illegal about it, while adding that India’s batsmen are unlikely to face too much trouble in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup group clash in Colombo.
Tariq, 28, has played four T20 Internationals so far and has picked up 11 wickets at an impressive economy rate of under six runs per match. His stop-and-pause action sparked intense debate in cricket circles ahead of the India-Pakistan clash.
The off-spinner’s unusual method has drawn comparisons with Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, mainly because of his hyper-mobile elbow, which prevents him from fully straightening his arm. The pause in his delivery sparked divided opinion, with former England captain Kevin Pietersen questioning its legality Ravichandran Ashwin took an opposing view.
“I didn’t see it properly, apart from a few flashes on TV, which is not always the best to see, but look, there’s no law against a bowler stopping and delivering the ball, just like there’s no law saying to a batsman that you can’t move before the bowler delivers the ball. So I don’t think you know, I don’t know, you don’t know who’s doing it, that’s commentary, that’s not the game,” Gavaskar told India Today.
He further added: “I think some of these comments are coming from people who don’t fully understand the rules of the game. It’s nothing to worry about. From what I saw in the recent training session you were around, the Pakistani batsmen had no problems playing it, so I don’t see the Indian batsmen having too much trouble with it.”
Gavaskar also played down the notion that Tariq’s actions made him a significant tactical threat. “Not really. In T20 cricket, they will look to go after a particular bowler and I think it was more than the bowler mystery here, it was the batting selection that got some of the batsmen out. So I don’t think it would be too much of an issue. I think if you want to play across the line, if you don’t hit, you get a better chance of hitting him more than hitting him.” added.
Former international umpire Anil Chaudhary also supported Tariq’s action, saying it was within the laws of the game.
“If you look at his action, it’s a bit sideways and a bit different and he bowls with a slight pause. But because he delivers all his balls in the same way and there’s no bending and straightening in the arm as instructed, the action is absolutely fine,” Chaudhary said in a video posted on Instagram after the recent T20I between Australia and Pakistan.
“It’s different and he bowls with a pause but he delivers all the balls the same. In my opinion his action is fair and this is a fair delivery,” he added.
India will take on Pakistan in their third group stage match of the ICC Men’s Under-20 World Cup in Colombo on Sunday, February 15.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 13, 2026