Kayo Sports<\/a><\/p>\nThe extraordinary scenes unfolded during a clash between Quetta Gladiators and Rawalpindiz in Karachi on Friday night, when Mitchell repeatedly stepped away from the crease just as Tariq was about to release the ball.<\/p>\n
The Pakistani spinner, whose bowling action has already divided the cricket world, momentarily halts mid run-up before releasing the ball, a move Mitchell clearly deemed too disruptive to face. <\/p>\n
Watch the mid-over confrontation in the video above<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce again [Mitchell] shies away,\u201d one commentator says. \u201cHe\u2019s not happy\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cCan he withdraw from the action?\u201d The other commentator in the box Rameez Raja asks. \u201cI think umpire is going to sort this out and I think he\u2019s got to be ready, Daryl Mitchell has got to be just a wee bit better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got to calm down a little, he wants to put [Tariq] off his pace but this is how he bowls actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
The batter\u2019s refusal forced umpires into an awkward mid-pitch intervention, while commentators, including Ramiz Raja, voiced visible frustration at the delays.<\/p>\n
But rather than a spontaneous act, Mitchell\u2019s protest appears to have been straight from the playbook of Indian spin great Ravi Ashwin who has publicly encouraged batters to counter Tariq\u2019s unusual rhythm using the laws of the game.<\/p>\n
Tariq\u2019s action falls into the laws of the game\u2019s grey area however isn\u2019t officially illegal.<\/p>\n
He has been cleared multiple times, including scrutiny around the ICC Men\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026, where his bowling first became a lightning rod for debate. <\/p>\n
The issue centres on his dramatic mid-stride pause.<\/p>\n
Under cricket\u2019s laws, bowlers are allowed to vary their run-up, even slow down or briefly stop. What they cannot do is \u201cfeign\u201d a delivery once they\u2019ve entered their final stride, meaning they can\u2019t trick the batter into thinking the ball has been released when it hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Tariq\u2019s pause comes just before the final delivery movement, meaning umpires have consistently ruled it part of his natural action rather than an illegal deception. That technicality has kept him in the clear but left many batters deeply unhappy.<\/p>\n
Mitchell\u2019s response of simply walking away however is also within the rules.<\/p>\n
A batter can withdraw from facing a delivery if they are not ready, particularly if something disrupts their timing or concentration \u2013 in this case the unpredictable nature of Tariq\u2019s pause.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s exactly the scenario Ashwin had predicted.<\/p>\n
While speaking on his YouTube channel ahead of the India vs. Pakistan game in the T20 World Cup 2026, Ashwin said, \u201cIf he (Usman Tariq) stops before delivering the ball, the batsman has the right to move away. He can say, \u2018I thought he was stopping.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was there, I would have done it. One should do everything to win a game within the rules. I would simply say I don\u2019t know when he will release the ball, and I would step away. If I move away, it is the umpire\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine the pressure on Usman Tariq in the middle of the match. It would be an incredible joy ride. He is the ace up their sleeves; imagine what he becomes if the batsman reacts like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Mitchell did exactly that, Ashwin praised the move, saying consistency in the bowler\u2019s action is key and if it\u2019s not consistent, the batter has every right to disengage.<\/p>\n
Tariq later hit back on social media, pointing to rules around when a batter is allowed to step away.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnsporting Conduct (Foul Play): If the batter does this continuously to deliberately distract the bowler or waste time, it can be deemed unfair play,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe umpire has the discretion to warn the batter, and if it continues, issue a penalty (usually 5 penalty runs to the fielding side).<\/p>\n
\u201cHappy to hear 5 penalty runs keep it up,\u201d read the Instagram story from Tariq, as per NDTV sports.<\/p>\n
Part of the controversy also comes down to optics.<\/p>\n
Tariq bowls with a bent arm and low, side-arm release, a style that can resemble illegal \u201cchucking\u201d to the naked eye. But under the ICC\u2019s 15-degree rule, what matters is not whether the arm is bent, but whether it straightens excessively during delivery.<\/p>\n
Tariq\u2019s bowling action, has been cleared by the ICC after biomechanical testing. <\/p>\n
In February, Australian all-rounder Cameron Green apologised to Tariq for making a chucking action<\/a> after being dismissed by the spinner in a T20 between Australia and Pakistan.<\/p>\nThe Aussie all-rounder was furious as he walked off the ground and appeared to perform a side-arm chuck as he neared the boundary rope.<\/p>\n
Like Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga before him \u2013 both once questioned for their unconventional actions \u2013 Tariq\u2019s biomechanics have passed testing with his elbow position remaining within legal limits.<\/p>\n
The controversy drew mixed reaction from fans, one writing on X \u201cvery good from Mitchell! That idiot bowler should learn that too much pause is not acceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Another adding they \u201ccompletely support\u201d Mitchell and labelling Tariq\u2019s action \u201cbulls**t\u201d.<\/p>\n
One fan Manas flagged Ashwin\u2019s comments saying \u201cMore than just a fan of @ashwinravi99 he looks like a full-time subscriber to the channel\u201d.<\/p>\n
For all the drama, the result was one-sided.<\/p>\n
Quetta piled on 182 before rolling Rawalpindiz by 61 runs, with Tariq himself playing a key role with two wickets. <\/p>\n
Rawalpindiz currently sit last on the table in eight place with Quetta in fifth exactly halfway through the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A simmering cricket feud boiled over into farce in the Pakistan Super League, with New Zealand star Daryl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,244438,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-603945","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-ncaeditorialkayo","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}