Saeed Ajmal says ban was torture

Off-spinner says he has endured eight months of pain and it was the most difficult time of his life

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has been recalled to the national side as he describes his eight-month suspension for an illegal bowling action as torture.

The 37-year-old was suspended from all international cricket after a biomechanical analysis showed his action transgressed beyond the 15-degree tolerance limit allowed by the International Cricket Council.

Read: One step forward, one back: Ajmal returns but Shehzad excluded

"It was torture living without cricket," Ajmal told AFP from his hometown Faisalabad via telephone.

"I have endured eight months of pain and it was the most difficult time of my life."

Ajmal sat out the World Cup after being banned in ICC’s crackdown against chucking, where the bowler’s flexion was found well over the permissible limit of 15 degrees.

Read: ICC suspends Saeed Ajmal over illegal bowling action

Almost everyone thought that Ajmal’s career was over after being banned and that the remodelling was a waste of time and money. One man, however, thought otherwise — despite the whole world being against him — and that man was Ajmal himself.

Read: A positive spin: Ajmal hopes to turn back time after ‘rebirth’

“I’m very excited to play for Pakistan again and it seems like my rebirth in international cricket. Now that I’ve returned, I want to be the best bowler in all formats against Bangladesh because I never settled for less,” an ecstatic Ajmal earlier told The Express Tribune.