'Ajmal should ignore debate over action'

Karachi: Best known for mastering the doosra, former Pakistan tweaker Saqlain Mushtaq on Thursday advised offspinner Saeed Ajmal to ignore the ongoing debate over his bowling action.

Ajmal himself ignited the controversy when he claimed in an interview that the ICC had given special permission to him to straighten his arm beyond the allowed 15 degrees.

The PCB and ICC later clarified that no latitude had been given to the Pakistani spinner who won the Man-of-the-Series award in the just-concluded 3-0 Test whitewash over England in the UAE.

Continuous discussion on it will affect his rhythm, feels Saqlain Mushtaq.

Saqlain, himself a top exponent of the doosra, which is also used regularly by Ajmal, felt that the Pakistani spinner needed to focus on his game.

"Ajmal's bowling action has been cleared by the ICC," said Saqlain. "This is the bottomline and Ajmal should keep this fact in mind all the time.

"He must ignore discussions on his bowling action.

Continuous discussion on it will affect his rhythm because he'll be thinking about it all the time. The players should only focus on the game when giving statements rather that going into technicalities."

PCB chairman, Zaka Ashraf has already termed the debate over Ajmal's action as a conspiracy to derail the upbeat Pakistan team.

"Ajmal was trapped by the journalist and because he hasn't got a command over English, he fell in the trap. This was a clever ploy following Pakistan's thumping whitewash in the Test series," Ashraf told reporters.

He said it appeared as if the English media couldn't digest the defeat of its team in the Test series and wanted to create some controversy involving Ajmal.

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