LAHORE - Ace Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal announced he will not feature in next year's World Cup after he failed to completely correct his bowling action which led to his suspension three months ago, an official said Saturday. The 37-year-old Ajmal appeared before a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) committee on Saturday before taking the decision.
"Ajmal has taken this decision all by himself as he has not been able to completely correct his action and he will hold a press conference in a couple of days to announce his decision," PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan told media.
Ajmal's bowling action was reported during the Galle Test in Sri Lanka in August. His action was found illegal on a bio-mechanic assessment a month later which led to his suspension. "The remedial work on his action will take some time so we are not sending him for an unofficial test," said Khan.
Ajmal’s decision came after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shahryar Khan threw the ball in his court by saying that suspended off-spinner needed to decide for himself whether he can pass the official International Cricket Council (ICC) test or not.
Shahryar’s decision had left Ajmal’s fate hanging in the balance, and with the off-spinner’s career on the line, the wrong decision could had been the final nail in the coffin for him. The veteran bowler has undergone informal testing in the UK, but the results showed that Ajmal was still over the allowed limit of a 15-degree flexion. He has continued working on his remodeled action at the Loughborough University with Saqlain Mushtaq and biomechanists, but was called back to Pakistan, the Express Tribune reported.
The PCB earlier this month requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have Ajmal's action reassessed but had to delay that after his unofficial tests revealed he still needed remodelling. Ajmal has been remodelling his action with the help of former off-spinner Saqlain. The PCB asked Ajmal to appear in Pakistan A’s last two matches against Kenya so that his action could be judged in an actual match environment and unfortunately, the off-spinner looked like a shadow of himself as he struggled to bowl properly.
A PCB meeting on Saturday decided Hafeez will proceed to Chennai, India to have an unofficial test while Ajmal will do more remodelling work in Lahore. "The PCB committee discussed the future course of action to be adopted with regard to Ajmal and Hafeez and agreed that in the case of Ajmal, further remedial work should continue in collaboration with Saqlain and a bio mechanist in Lahore," a PCB release said.
"The group was informed that significant progress had been made by Ajmal who is now working on completing his 'mileage' with the remodelled action which shall soon be accomplished," said PCB. The PCB fully supports Ajmal in his attempt to regularize his action and to return to cricket as Pakistan's top performer in the future, the release added. "It was noted that Saqlain and Mushtaq Ahmed (Pakistan's spin bowling coach) have both worked with Hafeez and his action should now be unofficially tested in Chennai next week," said the PCB.
It was also learnt that the PCB was keen to pick Ajmal in the World Cup squad and wanted to give him time to go for test just ahead of the World Cup and if unsuccessful he might be replaced in the squad. But the International Cricket Council (ICC) in its last meeting held in Dubai decided that they will not permit the replacement for the chucking bowlers during 2015 World Cup.
The decision has been conveyed to the officials of all national boards and they are made aware of it. The boards have been instructed not to select the suspected bowlers and no replacement will be granted if any bowler is found to be having his elbow extending more than 15 degrees.
The authority to grant the replacement for the injured players or players leaving the tournament for unavoidable reasons (death etc in the family) rests with the technical committee. The ICC is yet to announce the members of the technical committee for the 2015 World Cup.
M Akram, head coach at Pakistan's national cricket academy, said Ajmal has taken an honest decision. "Ajmal wants to play as world number one bowler and not someone who wants to hide for his action," Akram was quoted as saying. "Saqlain advised him to concentrate on cricket after the World Cup which he has accepted and withdrew from the World Cup," said Akram.