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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
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Comments (34) Closed
Aug 22, 2014 07:09am
Said is still our leading wicket taker whatever the number of wickets he takes. It is Abdul Rehman who is needed to be rested.
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Aug 22, 2014 07:56am
This is the first time i feel Rashid is commenting out of jealousy rather than expertise.
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Aug 22, 2014 08:20am
Why do Pakistani commentators always want to send a player to the gallows after one poor performance? I mean a lifetime of commitment and they want to throw it down the garbage. I am willing to bet that any team EVEN better then Pak would love to have Ajmal but this guy thinks he is ready to be disposed in the garbage. Maybe Ajmal is injured, maybe tired, can we al least see him have 3-4-5-6 poor performances? Also yes he did not play his best but he still did ok. Pathetic some of these guys really.
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Aug 22, 2014 09:41am
Rashid Latif....back again seeking his 10 minutes of fame with his silly comments. Abdul Rehman should be dumped and a young spinner under the guidance of Ajma should be brought in.
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Aug 22, 2014 10:12am
There he goes again. This guy is no less than Imran and Qadri.
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Aug 22, 2014 10:43am
He is right. I think he needs rest
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Aug 22, 2014 10:45am
The problem is that once you come into the team it's really hard to be thrown out. Same with Mishnah, you is, azhar Ali etc.
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Aug 22, 2014 10:50am
Our ex-cricketers never lose an opportunity to put their 2 cents in. The test matches in
Sri Lanka were played on perfect batting pitches. If Herath was unplayable, maybe it was , as usual, our batter's ineptitude to play a quality bowler. SL batters are head and shoulders above ours, so it is not a proper comparison. If we cannot afford to have an extra bowler, to test out new talent, blame the poor batting. We have to load up on batters hoping to put up a decent score, hence there is never room for an extra bowler.
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Aug 22, 2014 10:52am
Its true that his magic has been sorted out by many batsmen, but they still can't score freely off him. We need support bowlers for him, not Abdul Rehman...
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Aug 22, 2014 11:20am
saeed deserves a longer run even if he goes through a prolong bad patch. he has to be there for the w/c. what he needs right now is some rest and some guidance..he needs to work and persist with his off spin and give doosra a rest. leave it as a wicket taking ball.
agreed on other young bowlers should be in the side now an should play this odi series....but we know how pcb works..coach,captain won't allow that to happen..sad but true
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Aug 22, 2014 11:20am
saeed deserves a longer run even if he goes through a prolong bad patch. he has to be there for the w/c. what he needs right now is some rest and some guidance..he needs to work and persist with his off spin and give doosra a rest. leave it as a wicket taking ball.
agreed on other young bowlers should be in the side now an should play this odi series....but we know how pcb works..coach,captain won't allow that to happen..sad but true
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Aug 22, 2014 12:13pm
Fair Statement. Getting 4 Wickets of Tail Enders after giving up 200 Runs in an Inning is not something to shout about.
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Aug 22, 2014 12:32pm
I think now he is bowling within ICC limits, that's why.
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Aug 22, 2014 12:42pm
Looks like Rashid was waiting for one bad performance to take it all out of his system. Wish PCB, along with grooming such talent, also spends some time on academic education of these talented players so that even after they retire, they not only are able to present themselves as ambassadors of Pakistan cricket but also have proper educated views on national cricket
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Aug 22, 2014 01:18pm
Really Rashid Latif? Are you for real? Saeed Ajmal was the ONLY bowler in whole world last year who got over 100 international wickets. I am sure if Ajmal was bowling to our own batsmen, he would have picked 30 out of 40 wickets in test matches. Top players play him well because they play everyone well. Who has ever troubled ABD or Sanga anywhere in world? Ajmal has been the best spinner in whole world, Shane Warne said that.
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Aug 22, 2014 01:26pm
It were people like him, who said such rubbish about saqlain! we should give such people a shutup call!
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Aug 22, 2014 01:45pm
For once Rashid is absolutely right. Have been feeling this myself for an year or so. With ICC going strict on the 15 degree rule, it is time to bring on some new faces into the team.
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Aug 22, 2014 03:51pm
Rashid is somewhat correct - Ajmal's performance in Tests and T20s has declined in the past several months but he still remains an incredible ODI bowler. I agree that's it worth giving Zulfiqar Babar a chance.
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Aug 22, 2014 04:15pm
Ajmal has been in great form in county cricket and over the last year. He had 4 bad test matches and Rashid Latif wants him out of the team. I think Rashid was hoping for a nice spot in PCB and failing to do so, now he wants to behave as a typical pundit looking for fame by talking rubbish about our best player. Shame on him.
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Aug 22, 2014 04:51pm
There is clear lack of consistency in Pakistani players. The army of coaches should try to focus and address the issues, which, so far, they have failed to. If Pakistan players continue to perform in this way, the very purpose of the army of coaches does not make any sense.
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Aug 22, 2014 04:59pm
@Waseem Sarwar he ws no magician. .u people hv bn so starved of quality players. .dt u call a good player...a magician. .he hs taken wickets bt every player go through purple patch..he ws goin through same..dts all.
he is a chucker..d only magician has bn our great murli..
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Aug 22, 2014 06:09pm
To every rise there is a fall. How long can he stay at top? I think he has already peaked in his cricketing career and everybody knows where do we head from the top?
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Aug 22, 2014 07:02pm
Wait where is Raza Hassan?
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Aug 22, 2014 08:03pm
It is correct that Saeed Ajmal has been found out. A great bowler is now a very mediocre one. Also, he becomes defenceless if he is continously hit, and keeps balling the same ball over and over again and keep getting hit for 6, as has happened on a few ocassions in ODIs. Because of the nature of ODIs, Ajmal is very vulnerable. He may still be retained but Zulfiqar should certainly replace Rehman.
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Aug 22, 2014 08:04pm
There is nothing wrong with Saeed. He may be having a bad run. Having said that, the doosra is difficult to bowl if your action comes under scrutiny.
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Aug 22, 2014 08:05pm
We lost our crucial matches in world 20/20 and champions trophy because of his poor performances.His performance in recent test series was below par. He needs to be replaced with atif maqbool (young & better bowler, feilder and batsman) misbah needs to be replaced by harris sohail (much better striking and talented batsman than him) and younis must be replaced by fawad alam
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Aug 22, 2014 08:50pm
no one should play in the side on reputation alone. We need to learn from Australia, they were the best over the last 20 years because as soon as their great players were no longer teh best in their own team, they were chopped mercilessly. Take players like David Boon, Allan Border, Craig McDermott, Ian Healy.
We need to learn to be ruthless and not copy india and play tendulkar for ever just so he can get a particular personal record. If you want to be a winner, the aussies have shown us what it takes. There are no prizes for coming second. If he is not good enough he should be replaced.
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Aug 22, 2014 09:26pm
No, he is not, Srilankans just play him better. But He is a threat to England, Australia, NZ, west Indies and yes SA as well. Abdul Qadir used to destroy teams but he was harmless to Indian Batsmen. Qadir and In fact Shane Warne failed against India. Now Players Like Sangakarra who are masters of Doosra will always score against Ajmal. Ex-Pakistan players should support Ajmal at this delicate time (when he is being tested) not attack him
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Aug 22, 2014 10:31pm
Rashid has stopped making sense. He should stop commenting completely after he resigned from the post he was given in PCB :)
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Aug 22, 2014 10:58pm
Forget Ajmal.
#GoMisbahGo Is MIsbah good enough to captain Pakistan during the World Cup ?
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Aug 23, 2014 01:24am
Sir,
The supporters of Saeed Ajmal must watch the way Hussey and then Maxwell single handedly destroyed him in recent ODI and Sanga and other Lankan batsmen toyed with his bowling.
Change is imminent and who knows the PCB unearthed another top bowler.
Regards,
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Aug 23, 2014 03:40am
Saeed Ajmal though still a top bowler but he seems to have a questionable action like Murali and Harbajan. He needs to be cleared first to regain his confidence back. File pictures on these articles are not looking good. His arm is obviously angling > 15 degrees that is allowed. Pakistan should start looking for other alternatives. Abdul Rehman's sell by date is also gone. Zulfiqar could be the short term answer.
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Aug 25, 2014 05:32pm
As per the famous saying, "its pretty easy to come at top but its very difficult to stay there for long."
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Aug 25, 2014 07:08pm
Rashid Latif should realize that Ajmal is already under pressure for his bowling action accusation and testing..
Such harsh statements are not going to help him or team at this point.
Why people dont think before they release such statements.
Player most worthy of brutal criticism is Hafeez. What justification is there for his part in the team. Look at his batting performance!!
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