LAHORE: Pakistan’s former spin bowling wizard Abdul Qadir on Tuesday said it will not be easy for off-spinner Saeed Ajmal to change his action considering his advancing years.

The 36-year-old Ajmal was handed an indefinite suspension by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday after finding his arm straightens

beyond the permissible 15 degrees for bowlers during his deliveries after tests conducted at a lab in Brisbane.

“I think Saeed has developed his action now and it would be very difficult for him to change now,” Qadir told Dawn. “It will be very difficult for him to concentrate on his bowling while the fear of chucking is on his mind.

“I’m not saying that his international career is over but he needs to work under the guidance of qualified people to rectify his action.”

Former batting legend Javed Miandad, meanwhile, said there was no need to press the panic button and backed Ajmal to fix his action.

“It is up to Saeed to rectify his action as others can only guide him how to come out from the situation,” Miandad said. “I think he messed up his action while trying the ‘doosra’ and ‘teesra’ and now he should

go back to the basics of offs-pin bowling. ”

Agencies add:

Another former Pakistan captain, Rashid Latif, said Ajmal’s suspension was a major setback for Pakistan as there was a lack of quality spinners in reserve.

“The sad part is that we haven’t tried any other specialist off-spinner in international matches, and now our World Cup plans are severely dented,” Rashid said. “I think the PCB should get our former great spinners to work with him on his action.”

Published in Dawn, September 10th , 2014