Kathmandu, March 31:

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspected the bowling actions of two Nepali players who took part in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in February-March in Malaysia.

“The ICC has sent us a letter saying that Rahul Kumar BK and Sagar Khadka were suspected to have illegal bowling action and directed us to stop them from playing in international tournaments until they are cleared,” said general secretary of Cricket Association of Nepal Tanka Paneru.

Left arm spinner Rahul and off-spinner Sagar were part of all six matches Nepal played on their way to the Plate Championship runners-up in the World Cup. Rahul was the joint third highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets, while Sagar claimed two.

Skipper Paras Khadka was on top with 12, followed by Amrit Bhattarai (11). Raj Shrestha had also taken 10 wickets.

Rahul bagged nine wickets in Nepal’s fourth consecutive ACC U-19 Elite Cup victory in Malaysia in August, last year and was also a member of ACC Twenty20 Championship held in Qatar in October, 2007. Rahul said that he had no idea that his bowling action was under suspicion. “I might have some weaknesses in bowling, but I don’t think that I have illegal action,” he said.

Accepting that the bowlers had awkward bowling actions, National team coach Roy Luke Dias said that it was not a major issue. “I worked on Rahul to correct his action before going to Malaysia for the U-19 Elite Cup and it was alright then,” he said.

“Rahul tends to follow his awkward action while bowling during the matches unknowingly,” added Dias.