KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has said that country’s leading spinner Saeed Ajmal does not hold much threat for the batsmen around the world anymore and should be replaced with either Zulfiqar Baber or Atif Maqbool in the national team.

Speaking to a leading TV channel on Wednesday, Rashid said that top batsmen around the world have pretty much sorted out Saeed’s ‘doosra’ and he is not returning with match-winning haul of wickets anymore for Pakistan.

“I feel he is playing in the national team on reputation alone and not for his performance,” said Rashid in a candid analysis of the spinner’s bowling.

“Yes, he has been a fine bowler for Pakistan and I donot want to take anything away from him. But the fact of the matter is that Saeed has been almost completely sorted out by top players like Sangakkara, De Villiers, Kohli and a few others and his ordinary faring in recent matches is proof of that.”

Citing the example of the last few Test series played by Pakistan against South Africa and Sri Lanka where Saeed was not very effective, Rashid said spinners such as Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and even Proteas’ Imran Tahir unpstaged Saeed in those contests.

“Herath was unplayable with as many as 23 wickets in the recent series while Saeed struggled to take just nine wickets in four innings,” observed Rashid.

“If he (Saeed) is our leading bowler, that performance is just not good enough to win matches for Pakistan.”

Rashid said left-armer Zulfiqar and right-arm off-spinner Atif are breathing down Saeed’s neck for quite sometime now with their impressive bowling in the domestic seasons and should have been drafted into the Pakistan team over a year ago.

“One look at their bowling tells you that both Zulfiqar and Atif have the ability to baffle the batsmen with their spin and repertoire,” said Rashid.

“They have a refreshing variety to their bowling and are incisive when on song.

“Not just me but other ex-players and critics have also pointed out the deterioration in the bowling of both Saeed and Abdur Rahman. So why are we persisting with them?” asked the former wicket-keeper.

“I just hope skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is not providing them unnecessary cover.”

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2014