ICC banned me because I was a Pakistani: Saeed Ajmal

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has said that he was banned from bowling by the ICC in 2014 as he was a Pakistani cricketer and that the apex cricket body thought the PCB couldn’t do anything against the decision.

The Faisalabad-born off-spinner Ajmal was once ranked world’s number one bowler in ODIs and T20 International cricket.

His action was first reported during an ODI series against Australia in the UAE in 2009. However, the spinner got a clean chit but in 2014 the result was different as he was forced to change his bowling action.

“The test in 2009 and 2014 was same but the only difference was they had removed the medical conditions which they considered in 2009. When Muralitharan left cricket then ICC thought there is this guy Saeed Ajmal and he is from Pakistan and they can’t do anything against our decision,” Ajmal said as quoted by India Today.

Ajmal’s time in the limelight cut short following a temporary ban for chucking. Though he returned to the sport in 2015 with a remodelled action but without much success.

He took just one wicket in two ODIs and a T20I in Bangladesh, his first matches after being cleared to bowl, and was never selected for the national team again.

Ajmal took 178 wickets in 35 Tests, the last of which was at Galle in Sri Lanka in 2014, where his bowling action was reported for a second time. The spinner finished with 184 wickets in 113 ODIs, and 85 in 64 T20I internationals.

In spite of a successful career, Ajmal said the last two years of his career had been frustrating.