Ace spinner Saeed Ajmal will feature in Pakistan’s T20 Championship next month in a bid to forge a comeback into the national side for the upcoming worldwide assignments.
Ajmal’s impact has been limited since he was forced to remodel an illegal action and he has only taken only 16 wickets at 48.50 in a season in which three Worcestershire seam bowlers Jack Shantry, Joe Leach and Chjarlie Morris have carried a heavy workload.
“His contract with Worcestershire is until September 4, as he will be leaving for Hajj the day after his return to Pakistan next week”.
“There was no sacking or early termination of my contract as some media is reporting”, he said, dispelling recent rumours that he’d been sacked in favour of West Indian paceman Shannon Gabriel.
Worcestershire have signed West Indies pace bowler Shannon Gabriel for their final two CountyChampionship matches of the season as they battle against relegation from Division One.
“I’m confident that I can make a comeback for my country and prove my critics wrong”, Ajmal said.
There is a growing feeling in Pakistan’s cricketing circles that Ajmal may find it extremely hard to resurrect his global career, especially in the face of Yasir Shah’s success in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka. “I feel that I am not a spent force when it comes to global cricket and as a bowler I still have something to offer my country”, he said.
Chief selector Haroon Rasheed said that Ajmal’s performances will be monitored and that the bowler will be called to the NationalCricketAcademy for observation when head coach Waqar Younis returned from Australia next month. “He has not performed consistently in any format he has taken wickets but at expensive rates”, the source said.
Ajmal, who has claimed 178 Test and 184 ODI wickets, struggled to find a place in the national squad after being cleared to bowl again by the ICC.
The Doosra specialist added that it might be nice to characterize his nation once more as worldwide cricket is the top for any cricketer.