KARACHI: The suspension of Saeed Ajmal does not come as a surprise, though the fact that every ball he bowled in the tests conducted in Australia have been deemed illegal, is surely going to shock the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The ICC statement means that Ajmal would simply need to overhaul his action from scratch if he wants to add to his 35 Test, 111 ODI and 63 T20 caps.
At 36, Ajmal is going to find the task an extremely onerous one given that he has bowled a million times with the same action in a two decade span (including the time he was learning the art of bowling as a teenager).
While conspiracy theorists are calling Ajmal’s ban a plot to derail Pakistan’s World Cup preparations, the fact remains that the ICC had cleared their intentions on clamping down on dubious actions during their annual meeting in June.
The Anil Kumble led cricket committee had expressed reservations on the emergence of bowlers with suspect actions and impressed upon the governing body to dig deep in identifying and remedying their bowling style.
"The committee believed that there are a number of bowlers currently employing suspect actions in international cricket, and that the ICC's reporting and testing procedures are not adequately scrutinizing these bowlers," ICC said after a committee meeting in Bangalore on the eve of the annual gathering in June.
Of more pertinence is PCB’s response to the committee’s decision. It seems that the board was caught unaware of the resolve with which the ICC started identifying and suspending bowlers with suspect actions.
Before Ajmal, Shane Shillingford, Kane Williamson and Sachitra Senanayake were all asked to remodel their actions after they failed to clear the biomechanics test conducted in England or Australia.
Many former Test cricketers of note including some Pakistan captains privately raised doubts on Ajmal’s actions.
Similarly the tweets of Michael Vaughan and Stuart Broad questioning the legality of his action during Ajmal’s stint with Worcestershire during the English summer only fanned the flames further.
While the introspection would continue for some time yet, the PCB has to now brace for another tricky phase amid the turbulence that engulfs the sport in the country.
Pakistan does not have a single specialist off-spinner with international experience at present. The supposed back-up for Ajmal, Atif Maqbool and Adnan Maqbool have already been questioned on their dodgy bowling actions.
Other than the pair of the left-armers Abdul Rehman and Zulfiqar Babar, the cupboard is empty.
Raza Hasan another left-arm spinner has featured in Twenty20 only, while leg spinner Yasir Shah has played three internationals only (Two T20s, one ODI).
But with Ajmal facing to put it mildly an uphill battle to return to the international fold, Pakistan is left with no option but to groom a couple of youngsters.
Misbahul Haq the national captain was unwilling to experiment with slow bowlers other than Ajmal and Rehman in his four year captaincy stint and now in his last few games at the helm, he has been left bereft of his most reliable weapon.
COMMENTS (10)
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@Asad Hasan: Don't bring Murali into this. Murali went through the same tests Ajmal has and he went through them multiple times. He was cleared every time. Today his sharpest critics - the Australians - seek advice from him.
Unfortunately as as a nation are in a state of denial. This extends to the cricket scene, naturally. None of the former cricketers, gurus and other experts have the guts to call a spade a spade. Ajmal's action has been suspect for a long-time (as was Muralitharan's, Ian Meckiffs, Charlie Griffith's, and so many others - this in no way should be a reflection on our own cricket policies!). Poor Ajmal - in HIS state of denial he said " “The ban is not a problem for me right now."!
Our Board is ofcourse famous for its Zero Tolerance policy ! Whether it is gambling, drugs, chucking, we have a zero tolerance policy for all. No matter our players are frequently found indulging in all! Shaharyar said there were at least 35 bowlers — mostly off-spinners — in Pakistan’s domestic cricket whose bowling actions were suspected! Our zero tolerance policy speaks!
@Hassan Shah: Well, Pakistan is in a state of denial in all aspects including cricket. Pakistan is already a weak team and ajmal's suspension wud hurt them as team. Their dream is over if you see it realistically. they plan everything around ajmal and he won't be there. u need time to find jewels like him and pakistan won't be able to find one in 6 months.
Again if you have seen the events around the world, u wud realise.. Pakistan is unfortunately, nobody in the cricketing world. Did u forget what happened in big 3 fight. Politics is another issue.
Conspiracistan
@Fact is fact: Who says WC dream is over? Cricket is not subject to individual performances. Remember Waqar, among the most lethal weapons of all times, missed 1992 worldcup. And we still came out victorious. Ajmal should have worked out a solution specially after being warned once. Pakistan cricket can and will produce more legendary crickers as we did in the past. Pakistan is a big country in Cricketing world and other as well, its only about the Individual's viewing angle.
Its the England & Indian who are upto Saeed Ajmal as they were against M. Amir. Shame on this cricket spirit. Why not check action of Ashwin, Hearth 100% should be banned from bowling also.
Why is every one shocked at the news. Yes there has been problem with ajmal's action in the past but he was cleared mainly based on the fact that rules were easy. Now ICC is clamping down on all the bowlers with suspected actions and that includes a lot of spinners as mentioned in the article. Why Pakistanis cannot just take the news and move on for the future rather than beating about the bush on conspiracy theories. Pakistan is not such a big country in the cricketing world (or other world) that whole world has to conspire against us only. We need to be more patient. This has happened in the past and we have came out with even better bowlers. Yes, WC dream is over for now but you never know who comes to the rescue.
@Azi: Selective reading of that sort tends to lead to such incorrect conclusions:
The title of this article sums it up. It's not just the PCB. All Pakistanis were caught unaware. Now it is being pointed out to them in this very article that other players from other countries have been banned but still they don't get it.
We should still play him as a batsman... he's a better batsman than our top/middle order...
Anyone wonder why only Pakistani player? Esp one holding a high prestige? Simple, since the evil three tyrants now control world of cricket they mutually agree to the fact that, "If you cant play them, ban them".