I should have taken legal action against them: Saeed Ajmal questions ICC's decision of banning him

Saeed Ajmal is regarded as one of the best spinners that Pakistan has ever produced. He had an impressive stint with the national side where he donned the Pakistan jersey in all three formats and delivered match-winning performances on multiple occasions. Ajmal was once ranked the world’s number one bowler in ODIs and T20Is.

Ajmal scalped 184 wickets in 113 ODIs and 85 wickets in 64 T20Is. He delivered impressive performances in the longer format too as he plucked 178 wickets in 35 Tests. However, one thing that served as a roadblock in Ajmal’s career was the ICC ban. His career was marred with controversies involving his bowling action and he was eventually banned by the ICC in 2015. His action was reported twice by the ICC before he was banned.

In a recent interview with Pakpassion.net, Ajmal has opened up about ICC’s decision and has stated the should’ve taken legal action when the council banned him from bowling. According to the off-spinner, the location of a computer chip — installed on the body of a player — is responsible for the results in the bowling action test.

I would have won the case against ICC: Saeed Ajmal

“I should have taken legal action against the ICC for banning me from bowling. If I had gone to court against the ICC to question their use of technology to assess the legality of my bowling action, then I would have won that case,” said Ajmal.

“From what I understand, the location of the computer chip which is installed on the body of the bowler can determine if the player passes or fails his bowling action test. The location of the chip on the bowler’s body can mean a difference of 5 or 6 degrees in terms of permissible straightening of the elbow joint which places a big question mark on the whole process,” he added.

Ajmal opined that nothing can be said with 100 per cent certainty in such tests. He also suggested that one can trust the outcome of the test only after ICC reveals how the procedure works.

“And to top it all, the results of all those measurements are pushed through a ‘black box’ to determine the legality of an action which I find to be a complete mystery. The fact is that in this testing procedure, there is nothing which can be said with 100 per cent certainty, and that being the case, how can a bowler’s action be deemed illegal based on this testing procedure? You can only have that level of confidence when the ICC can clearly explain how the procedure works,” said Ajmal, who was known for his lethal ‘doosra’.

Ajmal also lamented on ICC suspending Mohammad Hafeez from bowling due to his action.

“Look at what has been done to Mohammad Hafeez who had been bowling so well international cricket. The poor guy cannot bowl properly due to all these restrictions. Yet we have others, non-Pakistanis, who are bowling freely whilst our guys are being banned for illegal actions,” Ajmal further said.