LAHORE: Pakistan ace spinner Saeed Ajmal was not called for the world cup squad despite his bowling was cleared by International Cricket Council (ICC) over tussle with a top Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official, Dawn.com reported on Tuesday.
The website said that experts were of the view that the team management had named a replacement for the injured Junaid Khan in haste and they should have waited until Ajmal’s biomechanics test results had been received.
Rahat Ali was picked as Junaid’s replacement on February 5, just two days before Ajmal’s results had come in but Pakistan had another opportunity to include the off-spinner after Mohammad Hafeez suffered a calf injury on Sunday and was also ruled out of the World Cup. But once again there was no room for Ajmal and Nasir Jamshed was called up.
Quoting unnamed sources in PCB, the site claimed that Ajmal was not being considered because of a fallout with a top official of the board who was now on the Governing Board.
“While it may seem like Ajmal is not being rushed back into action because he is not match fit, the real reason for not including him goes back to August 2014. The incident took place after Pakistan lost the 3rd and deciding ODI of its series against Sri Lanka at Dambulla. A top PCB official stormed into the dressing room and let fly at the team. In response, Ajmal told the official that he had no business being in the dressing room and that is where this drama started,” it quoted the official as telling it.
The official questioned the logic behind the PCB asking Ajmal to play domestic cricket before he could be considered for the national team, terming it ‘an insult to a bowler who is still the number one bowler in the ICC rankings despite not playing since August last year.’
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