The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reinstated Saeed Ajmal’s central contract along with a warning for the off-break bowler to be 'responsible about his conduct' in the future, a source in the board revealed.
PCB cancelled Ajmal’s central contract on November 7 and issued him a showcase notice, asking the spinner to give explanation in defense of his comments after he launched a scathing attack on the ICC and its 'double standards' on illegal bowling actions.
Ajmal, the prolific Pakistan spinner who was forced to remodel his bowling action after being reported for suspect action in Sept 2014, questioned the ICC's policies in a TV interview and asked why only bowlers from a few countries were repeatedly targeted for suspect actions.
“Why just target the off-spinners and why not the left-arm spinners, leg-spinners or fast bowlers? Ajmal asked.
“I can tell you that I have been through this bowling assessment process so many times and have watched and studied this issue so closely that I can vouch that if tests were carried out, there would be many other bowlers whose bowling actions would exceed the 15 degrees extension limit.”
“I don’t want to take names but there are still bowlers, including fast bowlers, who are violating the new rules but no one is looking at them. If they put Harbhajan Singh through a proper bowling assessment test now, I can safely tell you he will exceed the 15 degrees limit,” questioned the 38-year-old.
Ajmal is currently out of the Pakistan side despite correcting his bowling action according to the ICC standards.
The Doosra specialist, in 35 Tests and 113 ODIs has hunted down 178 and 184 victims for the national team.
