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Rajesh Chauhan made eligible for national selection

The committee of technical experts, comprising former Test stars Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, have rejected the objections raised by the International Cricket Council on off spinner Rajesh Chauhan's bowling action.

Outgoing BCCI secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya said in Calcutta that the selection committee had been briefed, and that Chauhan was now eligible for selection to the Indian side.

The ICC objections to Chauhan's actions had been first voiced after the India-New Zealand series in 1995. Subsequently, the board had advised the selection committee not to include Chauhan in any squads for international fixtures.

A video cassette depicting Chauhan's action was received by the board from the ICC. The board then constituted a committee comprising former Test cricketers Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. Gavaskar is a member of the ICC cricket committee, while Dev is a member of the committee constituted by the ICC to review matters pertaining to suspect actions.

"Gavaskar and Dev viewed the cassette sent by the ICC and also had a close look at Chauhan's action by making him bowl at the nets in Delhi in May," Dalmiya said.

The tw0-man committee felt that the footage sent by the ICC was not enough to prove that Chauhan's action was suspect, because the action was recorded from the back and no side view was available. Moreover, in the absence of complete shoulder movement, the total rotation of the arm was also not available from the footage recorded by the ICC, Dalmiya said.

"After viewing Chauhan's action at the nets also, the committee felt that the action should be judged in an actual match situation, not in a situation when the bowler was conscious being under observation," he said.

The findings of the committee were conveyed to the ICC, together with a request that it furnish more footage with the action from all the sides and depicting total rotation of the arm.

Meanwhile, it was decided that it will not be fair to compel Chauhan to remain under a cloud, and it was then decided that he should be available for consideration for the tour of Sri Lanka.