LAHORE: Former Pakistan Test off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has expressed hope that his successor in ‘doosra’ Saeed Ajmal who has been banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his illegal bowling action will stage a comeback in international cricket by the 2015 World Cup.

“Ajmal is fully determined to remove flaws in his bowling action and is vigorously training and I do hope he will soon make a comeback in the international cricket,” maintained Saqlain who has been hired by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to help Ajmal improve his bowling action which has been declared illegal by the ICC.

According to the bio-mechanic report, Ajmal bends his arm up to 35 degrees on average due to which his off-spinners as well as ‘doosras’ have been declared illegal by the ICC.

The PCB instead of appealing to the ICC has decided to improve Ajmal’s bowling action with the help of Saqlain who has reached recently to start rehabilitation work with the great bowler who has earned many laurels for the country.

Saqlain, a veteran of 49 Tests and 169 ODIs, said that he found Ajmal a fighter, adding the way banned spin bowler was training would definitely help him achieve his target of making a comeback in international cricket.

Ajmal has been backbone of the Pakistan team and the ban on him has been considered as one of the major shocks for the national team particularly in the upcoming 2015 World Cup. Ajmal’s absence is severely felt for no competitive off-spin bowler is available to the national team with most of the off-spinners in the domestic circuit having been declared ‘chuckers.’

Saqlain, with whom the PCB has signed a one month contract which is extendable, further said his main target was to make Ajmal available for the national team by the 2015 World Cup.

The former off-spinner said that though he was not a bio mechanic expert, his lap-top contained software about the bio mechanic.

To a question whether Sri Lankan great off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took 1,334 wickets (800 in Tests and 534 in ODIs) with illegal bowling action, Saqlain said that that was the past and his main focus was now only to work on Ajmal’s action and to make him available for the national team as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2014