Saeed Ajmal, who has an average record against South Africa, aims to shine and regain his world number one ranking in Tests. PHOTO: AFP
Prolific Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal vowed to regain the title of the world’s best Test bowler by punishing South Africa in the two-Test series starting in Abu Dhabi today.
“I will try my best. I want to be the number one Test bowler,” said Ajmal, who wrecked the then top Test team England with 24 wickets here last year but has a decidedly less glorious track record against South Africa — now the world’s best team.
His superlative show against England lifted Ajmal to the top spot in the International Cricket Council rankings for a brief period but he has since slipped to fourth place.
The Faisalabad bowler, who celebrates his 36th birthday on the first day of the upcoming test, played down the pressure of being Pakistan’s main weapon against the Proteas.
“Every day is a new day for me and every match is a new match. I try my best in every match and want to perform in the same manner as I did in the last one without taking on extra pressure,” said Ajmal, who has an average record against South Africa.
He managed just three wickets in the first Test in Dubai in 2010 before being dropped from the second Test in a 0-0 drawn then.
Ajmal took a ten-for on a spin-friendly Cape Town pitch in a lost cause in February this year but failed in the remaining two matches, getting only a single wicket.
That prompted captain Misbahul Haq to urge Ajmal to lift his performance if he wants to anchor the team’s win against South Africa. But the spinner insisted he doesn’t need to vary his style.
“I will go into the Test with 100 percent confidence. I have only one target and that is to take more and more wickets, be it [Graeme] Smith or [Jacques] Kallis, I bowl as I bowl,” said Ajmal.
Refreshed Kallis ready for Pakistan
South Africa’s premier batsman Jacques Kallis said he felt refreshed after a three-month break from cricket and was raring to go in the first Test against Pakistan.
Kallis, who returned to domestic matches after his break, played the last of his 162 Tests against Pakistan in February this year and has not featured in a limited over international since early 2012.
“After 17-18 years I needed a good three months away so it’s been a pleasurable period where I could refresh my mind and get a little niggle sorted out,” said Kallis.
Kallis said he was confident the South African batsmen would handle Pakistan’s spinners, led by the prolific bowler Saeed Ajmal, well.
“As a team we probably play spin as well as anybody. Our record shows that. Our players have got some good game plans against it and we’ve scored some big runs and got some good results in the subcontinent,” said Kallis, who has 1552 runs in 17 Tests, with six hundreds against Pakistan.
South Africa have not lost an away series since being beaten in Sri Lanka 2-0 in 2006 and they have only lost one series against Pakistan, 10 years ago.
Kallis played down a potential threat from off-spinner Ajmal, who took 24 wickets when Pakistan routed England 3-0 here last year. “He is still a good bowler anywhere around the world but in his own conditions he’ll be a bit more of a handful here. “We are not looking at one bowler specifically, we’re taking it as a group. Any one of them can knock us over. That’s the way we are focusing on it,” said Kallis.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2013.
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