Cameron Green has seemingly apologised to Usman Tariq after accusing the spinner of chucking during Saturday’s second T20 in Lahore, while Usman Khawaja has thrown his wait behind the Pakistan bowler.
The hosts sealed a crushing 90-run victory at Gaddafi Stadium after the Australians were rolled for 108 in 15.4 overs, with all ten wickets falling to spin. It was Australia’s heaviest T20I defeat in 21 years, with Pakistan taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
During the 11th over of the run chase, Green miscued a wide delivery from Tariq towards point, dismissed for 35 to leave the Australians in trouble at 6-76. Upon returning to the dugout, Green mimicked a baseball throwing motion, seemingly accusing the Pakistan spinner of chucking.
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On Monday, Khawaja shared an Instagram story that defended Tariq, while calling for cricket fans to not race toward final judgements.
“There aren’t many things worse than being called a chucker in cricket,” he said in the post.
“The stigma is real. The man is just doing his best and been cleared twice.
“Let’s have some perspective and understanding and stop jumping to conclusions.”
Tariq, playing his third T20I, finished with figures of 2-16 from 2.4 overs, also dismissing Australian tailender Matthew Kuhnemann, while there is currently no indication the Australian team or umpires lodged a format complaint into the 30-year-old’s bowling action.
On Sunday morning, Tariq appeared to mock Green by uploading footage of a crying child to Instagram, captioning the post, “After getting out,” alongside a laughing emoji. The following day, he posted, “Apology accepted,” to the social media platform, suggesting Green had apologised to the Pakistan tweaker.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha also criticised Green’s behaviour during Sunday’s post-match press conference, telling reporters: “It’s not his job, it’s the responsibility of the match referee and the umpires.”
Tariq’s bowling action is unorthodox; after pausing at the point of delivery, coming to a near-complete halt, he produces off-breaks with a slinging action and a pronounced bend in his arm. He has played in multiple T20 domestic leagues since making his professional debut in 2023, including the Caribbean Premier League and the United Arab Emirates’ ILT20, while he has tallied eight T20I wickets at 7.50 with an impressive economy rate of 5.62.
Under ICC regulations, a bowling action is deemed illegal if a player’s elbow extends by more than 15 degrees during the delivery stride, which starts from the point where the bowling arm reaches horizontal until the ball is released. Crucially, any natural elbow hyperextension is discounted when assessing legality.
Tariq has twice been reported for a suspected illegal action while representing the Quetta Gladiators during the Pakistan Super League 2024 and 2025 seasons. On the first occasion he was reported by umpires Asif Yaqoob and Richard Illingworth, while last year he was cited by match officials Ahsan Raza and Chris Brown.
Having twice undergone biomechanical testing at Lahore’s National Cricket Academy, experts on both occasions cleared Tariq’s action and he was permitted to continue bowling in the T20 tournament.
Pakistan v Australia 2nd T20I Highlights | 15:48
Last year, Tariq explained the bent arm in his bowling action was due to a physical condition, his apparent double-jointed elbow, dismissing allegations of chucking.
“I do have two elbows in my arm. My arm bends naturally,” he told MYK Sports.
“I have got this tested and cleared. Everyone feels I bend my arms and all that. My bent arm is a biological issue.”
However, throwing accusations continued to follow Tariq, with his bowling action once again coming under scrutiny following Pakistan’s four-wicket victory over South Africa in November. Later that month, he was named player of the match after taking career-best figures of 4-18 against Zimbabwe in Rawalpindi, including a hat-trick.
Speaking to The National during last month’s ILT20, when England’s cricketer Tom Banton accused him of an illegal action, Tariq hit back at “illiterate” cricket fans that continued to question the legitimacy of his bowling.
“There are two corners on my (elbow) which makes it hard for me to straighten,” he said.
“That makes confusion for the spectators. I have given two tests at labs in Pakistan. My action was cleared.
“As you can see from before, in history, when any spinner had allegations (of chucking) against them, they went to the lab. They tried to change their action and develop the right degrees.
“When I went for the test, within one week, it was cleared. I didn’t get the answer that you have to change your action, or improve the degrees. I was confident about my action because I know that I am not throwing.
“I would love to give a message on this platform that every single person who is commenting on these things, they should study first about cricket, then they should go for the allegations.
“If you don’t have knowledge about cricket and you are just commenting or sharing your thoughts, then illiteracy can kill knowledge.
“It is better to have knowledge, then after you can comment on anyone.”
Tariq isn’t the only Pakistani cricketer that Australian cricketers have accused of chucking. In 2022, fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain was twice mocked by Australian players for a suspect bowling action, by Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques during a Big Bash League match and by all-rounder Marcus Stoinis in a Hundred contest.
In February of that year, Hasnain was banned from bowling after biomechanical testing in Lahore confirmed his action was illegal, forced to undergo remedial work on his bowling.
Elsewhere, Australian spinner Kuhnemann was cited for a suspect bowling action during last year’s Test tour of Sri Lanka, but cleared of any wrongdoing after undergoing an independent bowling assessment at Brisbane National Cricket Centre in Brisbane.
In 2020, Cricket Australia banned Sydney Thunder all-rounder Chris Green from bowling for 90 days due to an illegal bowling action after being reported by umpires in the BBL.
The third and final T20 between Pakistan and Australia gets underway at the same venue on Sunday at 10pm AEDT.
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