LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has turned down a suggestion by the national team management that in order to save match-winning spin bowler Saeed Ajmal from fatigue, his services should only be confined to the Pakistan team and he should be paid extra money in compensation.

Well-informed sources told Dawn that the team management, in a bid to save Saeed from over-exposure and burnout in the various T20 leagues around the world, had put forward the suggestion to PCB which was turned down.

There’s no doubting that Saeed has become the main weapon of the Pakistan team in all three formats of the game and is being considered as the team’s trump card after single-handedly winning several international matches for Pakistan.

When contacted, PCB’s General Manager Media, Nadeem Sarwar said he would be able to confirm the report sometime later in the day. However, no reply was received from him until filing of this report.

Saeed, a prolific spinner, has bagged 120 international wickets between the period of Aug 4, 2011 and Aug 6, 2012 and has moved to the number one spot in the bowlers’ ranking for ODIs issued by International Cricket Council (ICC).

While he was included in the ICC Test Team of the Year, Saeed’s name was a glaring omission when the winners of the ICC Cricketer of the Year award were named last month.

Saeed has also taken 72 Test wickets in 2012 which are also the highest by any bowler in the one-year period. The PCB raised serious objections over the exclusion of Saeed’s name from ICC’s list of nominees for the Cricketer of the Year.

While the PCB could not succeed in influencing the decision of the ICC, it made an announcement that it would soon honour the great bowler to recognise his services.

The announcement was made on Sept 10 but the PCB is yet to arrange any such function in Saeed’s honour.