Ashish Ranjan
During his brief international tenure, former Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal was regarded as one of the world’s top bowlers. In 212 international matches, the off-spinner took 447 wickets by befuddling numerous batsmen with his variations. Even in the ODI and T20I rankings, he attained the number one position.
However, Ajmal’s career was prematurely cut short in 2014 when he was banished by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The spinner from Faisalabad stated that if he had played for India, he would have taken 1000 wickets across all formats.
“I would have taken a thousand outs by now. If I played for India, I would have a thousand wickets. I was a bowler who annually claimed 100 wickets. In nearly every year of my international career, I claimed 100 wickets,’ Ajmal said on a podcast hosted by Nadir Ali.
Regarding his exile, Ajmal stated that he should have been stopped during his debut in 2009 itself. However, they intervened when he had become international cricket’s most dangerous bowler.
“They should have only detained me in 2009,” However, they permitted me to participate. After I had taken 448 wickets, they realized they needed to find a means to stop him, so they took the actions they did. I was the number one bowler in the world when I was forbidden from bowling, he continued.
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Notably, Ajmal was banned due to a questionable bowling action, as his forearm bent more than 15 degrees while releasing the ball, exceeding the ICC’s permitted limit. In April 2015, he played his final game against Bangladesh, unable to acclimate to a sudden change in his action.
Following his suspension, the spinner asserted that a number of Indian bowlers used questionable action. Due to BCCI’s (Board of Control for Cricket in India) authority and influence in international cricket, they were not banned.
