THE International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Pakistan’s most dependable bowler and spinning wizard Saeed Ajmal owing to an alleged suspect bowling action.

This news is a blow to Pakistan’s cricket. At the moment there is no substitute for the banned off-spinner.

Ajmal has been brought up under the mentorship of the architect of mystery ball ‘doosra’, Saqlain Mushtaq, and has all the weapons in his armoury to hunt down the world’s best batsmen.

Ironically, the Pakistan Cricket Board has lived up to its past reputation and failed to find a replacement for Ajmal who is now 37 years old.

Besides, there are no replacements for batsmen such as Inzamamul Haq, Saeed Anwar and Mohmmad Yousuf. Consequently, the existing lot of batsmen have brought shame to Pakistan cricket on many occasions. The recent incident in Sri Lanka is a new addition to these ugly episodes.

Off-spinners always pose a major threat to batsmen of teams from outside Asia. Ajmal’s absence will certainly reduce the chances of winning the forthcoming World Cup.

Best wishes for the Pakistan team.

Muhammad Mudassir
Larkana

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2014