Pakistan Cricket player: Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal Biography
Name: Saeed Ajmal
Birth date: 1977-10-14
Hometown: Faisalabad
Teams: Faisalabad, Islamabad Cricket Association, Khan Research Labs, Water and Power Development Authority. Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited
Debut: 2nd Jul 2008
ODI Best: 33 | 4/33
Test Best: 50 | 6/42
Unlike the great Pakistani spinners of yesteryears who were given a chance to play within a couple of years of their first class debut Saeed Ajmal had to spend more than a dozen years in first class cricket before getting a call to play for Pakistan. It is hard to imagine that both Saeed and Saqlain started their first class careers at almost the same time and while Saqlain became a household name with in a couple of years Saeed had to really struggle.

In 2004/05 Ajmal was a part of the Faisalabad Wolves side which won the T20 domestic tournament in Pakistan and therefore booked a ticket to play an ineternational T20 tournament in England. This is where a lot of the Pakistani fans got a first look at Ajmal and the first thing that became obvious was his ability to bowl the doosra, Saeed bamboozled a lot of batsmen with his doosra and played a big part in Faisalabad’s win in the tournament.

Saeed finally made his ODI debut in July 2008 after being recommended by the vice captain Misbah ul Haq. In his very first game he deceived a lot of the Indian batsmen and in the context of a really high scoring game his figures of 1/47 were more than satisfactory and helped Pakistan win the game. In the next game Saeed was too hot to handle for the young Bangladeshi batsmen and ended up with figures of 3/19. After being dropped for the T20 tournament in Canada(very controversial decision which caused the chief selector to resign from his post) Saeed came back in the ODI series against WI where he once again impressed with his bowling how ever his fielding was severely criticized after he dropped a couple of real sitters.

Saeed had a very good series in UAE against Australia showing some excellent variety, but suspicions about his action surfaced which he was able to clear from the ICC before joining the squad for the twenty / 20 World Cup. In this tournament Ajmal played a major hand in winning the World Cup for Pakistan. His subtle changes of pace and doosra, bamboozled batsmen and along with Afridi provided an excellent partnership. His captain had enough faith in him to even use him in the final overs. He finished second highest wicket-taker in the tournament and was further rewarded by receiving a test cap against Sri Lanka. Although he is 34 years old, the passion and character he brings to the field it makes you feel he will be around for a while yet.
Saeed Ajmal gained the #1 ranking among ODI bowlers after a splended series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. Saeed Ajmal formed a deadly spin trio with fellow colleagues, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi.

Saeed Ajmal