Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been reported over a suspect bowling action after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said Thursday.
Pakistan won the match by 248 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
"The match officials’ report, which was handed over to the Pakistan team manager Moin Khan, cited concerns about the legality of the 34-year-old’s bowling action," the ICC said.
Hafeez’s bowling action will now be scrutinised further by the ICC.
The bowler is required to undergo testing within 21 days. During this period he is allowed to continue bowling in international cricket.
Hafeez is the second Pakistani after Saeed Ajmal, also an off-spinner, to be reported in a crackdown on bowlers with suspect actions that the ICC launched in June.
Besides Ajmal, Sri Lanka's Sachitra Senanayake, New Zealand's Kane Williamson, Bangladesh's Sohag Gazi and Zimbabwe's Prosper Utseya -- all off-spinners -- were reported and subsequently suspended to allow remedial work on their actions.
Zimbabwe match referee Andy Pycroft was an official in both the Ajmal and Hafeez cases.
He was also the match referee when Ajmal was reported during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka in August.
Ajmal is in England for an unofficial reassessment on his remodelled action and if it is found to be within the allowed limits of a 15-degree elbow extension, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will apply for an official reassessment.
Hafeez's action was also reported during a Twenty20 match in India in September but the PCB said the bowler did some remedial work in the national cricket academy in Lahore.
The player's action was cleared after being reported in a one-day match against the West Indies in Brisbane in 2005.
Before the recent Australia Test series Hafeez said he had been bowling with the same action for 11 years.
"Look, I have not changed my action. It’s the same for 11 years now, so I am confident and have no worries over my action," he said last month.