Bangladesh's World Twenty20 hopes were dealt a major blow Saturday when Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed were suspended from bowling for illegal actions, the International Cricket Council announced. Off-spinner Sunny and fast bowler Ahmed were reported by the umpires during a preliminary World T20 match against the Netherlands last week. They were ordered to undergo tests in the Indian city of Chennai to determine if their actions breached rules designed to eradicate chucking. "Independent assessments have found the bowling actions of Bangladesh's Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed to be illegal and, as such, both the bowlers have been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect," the ICC said in a statement. The Bangladeshi team would be allowed to call up two replacements during the tournament subject to approval from the event's technical committee, the statement added. Bangladesh faces an uphill task to make the semifinals of the World T20 for the first time after losing its opening match to Pakistan Wednesday. Its next game is against Australia in Bangalore Monday while it must also face New Zealand and India in the group stages. The ICC launched a crackdown against suspect actions in 2014, which resulted in several leading bowlers being suspended, including the world's former No. 1-ranked spinner Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal. Vandersay replaces Malinga Sri Lanka Saturday replaced injured paceman Lasith Malinga with 26-year-old leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay as the country moved to defend its World Twenty20 title in India. Sri Lanka Cricket said Vandersay, who has played in four T20 matches and taken one wicket conceding 115 runs, was a "potential future sensation." He was sent to India a day after Malinga, 32, flew back home from the T20 World Cup in India without having played a single match. Malinga's departure was the latest setback for the maverick bowler, having been dropped as skipper after the team's recent disastrous Asia Cup showing in Bangladesh. Malinga presided over a dismal performance by Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup where it was beaten by little-fancied Bangladesh, and only just scraped past the United Arab Emirates. Sri Lanka won the last World Twenty20 in Bangladesh in 2014, but the team has been badly weakened by the retirements of star batsmen Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Root master of all formats There was never an iota of doubt over Joe Root's class since his 2012 Test debut against India but the 25-year-old Yorkshireman's latest heroics have left many wondering if he is England's best ever batsman across the three formats of the game. Root is among the rare breed of Twenty20 batsmen who need not sacrifice aesthetics to score freely, a virtue he displayed with a magnificent 83 in England's campaign-reviving victory against South Africa in Friday's World Twenty20 match in Mumbai. "He is the best England batsman across all forms of cricket... ever," former England captain Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports after the team chased down an imposing target of 230 to record a two-wicket win. "I know that is a big comment but can you name another batsman who could do what he does as well as him? "He is our best player, a star, and will only get better. These are the best years of his life," added the cricketer-turned-pundit. England captain Eoin Morgan marveled at Root's ability to succeed across formats with so few changes to his technique. "He is the (most) complete batsman that we've ever had," Morgan told BBC radio. "That innings last night was so substantial, certainly in the circumstances of this team as it is at the moment. "It gives us great confidence to know he can go out and play the way he does without changing his game a great deal, and shows his class and composure as if it was a 50-over game or a test match." Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell is impressed by the versatility of the player who, he is convinced, will soon take over the England captaincy.
