Hoping to return: Ajmal to go for unofficial testing on action

Spinner will travel to England to determine whether his elbow flex has reduced

KARACHI: Pakistan’s suspended off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is confident that he has improved on his action as he prepares to go for unofficial testing at the newest ICC accredited National Cricket Performance Centre (NCPC) at England’s Loughborough University.

Ajmal had been working for a month with former spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the inventor of the ‘doosra’, to reduce the elbow flex that saw him suspended until he fixes his action. The 37-year-old also worked closely with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Illegal Bowling Action Committee, which includes Muhammad Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Ali Zia, Aleem Dar and Dr Sohail Saleem.

“We’ve tried to minimise Ajmal’s flex and shortened his bowling stride so that he does not push his elbow as much,” said a member of the bowling action committee. “With the naked eye and local cameras, the improvement is pretty good but the real results will be known after he goes through unofficial testing under high-speed cameras.”

Before being suspended, Ajmal was Pakistan’s main spinner and has 178 Test wickets, 183 ODI wickets and 85 T20I wickets.

“We’ve worked hard for a month to modify my action and I’m going with a positive frame of mind because local cameras showed good results,” Ajmal told The Express Tribune. “I have made slight adjustments but the action hasn’t been overhauled completely.”

Ajmal’s tests will be conducted on November 10 by the university’s chief biomechanist Dr Mark King. The NCPC at Loughborough is the latest state-of-the-art accredited facility for testing illegal bowling actions and deliveries.

During his brief stay in England after the testing, Ajmal will continue working with Saqlain Mushtaq. “As soon as I return after the unofficial tests, I’ll play two or three first-class matches in order to improve my confidence and see how my new action works in competitive matches, and from there on I’ll think about international cricket,” he added.

There are fears that Ajmal may lose his effectiveness with the remodelled action — especially with the doosra — but the spinner himself is confident that he will be as effective as he was before being suspended. “It’s not just about the doosra, I want to come back to international cricket with all my variety of deliveries and I’ll be as effective as I was before,” he claimed, adding that he has been working on bowling his entire repertoire of varieties with his new action.

In his absence, spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah performed brilliantly against Australia in the two-Test series, helping Pakistan whitewash the visitors and Ajmal said he is happy for the two spinners. “Yasir and Zulfiqar have done really well in the Test series and I’m happy for them,” he said. “But I do not fear them taking my place in the national side.”

However, Ajmal added that he was disappointed at having missed out on the series. “I really missed not playing against Australia, especially since Pakistan won the Test series with the spinners doing so well,” he said. “Our batting performance was also phenomenal because I haven’t seen it click this way in my entire career.”

 

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