USA's Nisarg Patel cleared to bowl again by ICC

Left-arm spinning allrounder Nisarg Patel has been cleared by the ICC to bowl again in international cricket, almost a year to the day after his action had been first reported by match officials.

Nisarg, 32, was suspended from bowling on February 19 last year after being reported eight days earlier by on-field umpires in an ODI loss to Oman in Nepal during USA's Cricket World Cup League Two tri-series tour.

Nisarg's bowling action was reassessed later in 2020, but the ICC ruled in November 2020 that his action still exceeded the permitted 15 degrees and he was asked to continue further modifications to his action. A subsequent ICC review has now deemed his remodelled action as legal.

Nisarg did not miss any bowling opportunities for USA for the duration of time that his action was suspended by the ICC. USA has not played any international cricket since the ODI tour of Nepal in February 2020 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. They are due to play Nepal and hosts Oman in an ODI tri-series next month.

USA Cricket had named Nisarg as one of 44 players in a training camp that was due to be held this month in Texas ahead of naming a 14-man touring squad to go to Oman in March. However, Oman government officials announced in late January that all international sporting events in the country were banned indefinitely due to a rise in Covid-19-positive cases.

According to multiple sources, USA's players were notified earlier this week in an email by USA Cricket operations manager Richard Done that the Texas squad camp has been cancelled in anticipation that the ODI series in Oman will be postponed by the ICC based on the Omani government's international sports ban. The ICC has yet to make a formal announcement regarding the status of the ODI tri-series in Oman.