With a home series against Zimbabwe knocking on the door and the World Cup drawing closer, the suspension on off-spinner Shohag Gazi came as a big blow to the Bangladesh

team, but chief selector Faruque Ahmed said that it is also a wake-up call for the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

Former national skipper Faruque raised questions about the International Cricket Council's (ICC's) sudden crackdown on the bowlers with suspect action and, like West Indies great Viv Richards, said that the 'cleanup' did not come at the correct time.

"Without any doubt it [Shohag's suspension) is a blow to the team. It's not easy to replace a player who is a regular on the team, especially considering that we don't have many off-spinners in our country. But I have serious questions about ICC's sudden move on illegal bowling action, especially with the World Cup approaching," said Faruque, hoping that Shohag would make his comeback by correctinghis action.

"A bowler bowled for a long period of time without any questions and all of a sudden, and in one fine morning he is informed that his action is illegal... I don't know whether it's fair or not. ICC was serious about this matter, I think, seven to eight years back. I represented BCB in the ICC's cricket committee regarding illegal bowling action and our board did a good job with Richard McInnes at that time, but suddenlyICC stopped pressing the issue for long period of time and we shelved our actions," continued the chief selector.

There is no secret that illegal bowling actions are a big problem in Bangladesh cricket and the authorities' 'feel free' approach sometimes encourages young cricketers to bowl wrongly in the domestic circuit. Faruque said that the board should take immediate decision in regards to correcting actions from a young age.

"We give a lot of efforts to prepare a bowler for the national team, so all of a sudden you cannot lose his services. These things become more difficult for a team like Bangladesh

because we have very limited resources. So the board has to chalk out a plan so we can work on correcting illegal actions from a very early stage of a player's career because it's not easy to correct the action of a matured player. I think ICC's current crackdown is a wake-up call for us," opined Faruque.

Shohag Gazi is out of the series, but Faruque said that Al-Amin Hossain would be available for selection for the series against Zimbabwe as the pacer's bowling actions will be examined on October 20 in Chennai, before the first Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe which will begin from October 25.

Cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan however said that they will do everything so Gazi can comeback to international cricket.

"We had experienced coaches working with Abdur Razzak when he had similar problems in 2008-09. So we are hopingto do the same for Gazi. We will try to ask the coaches [Mohammad Salahuddin and Ruwan Kalpage] who worked with Razzak to help Gazi. If needed, we will get more experienced people on board. It is very difficult to say how long it will take for him to come back, but we will try our best. We have an opportunity to use the facilities in Chennai," said Akram.

"We have to take this matter very seriously. We will only send him for a final test when we are confirmed that he is clear. We cannot risk Gazi.There's no time-frame," he added.

Akram also said that there will be a review committee so that this kind of incident can be dealt with at the domestic level.