Abdur Rehman: “Saeed Ajmal would not have got hit now because of the variety he had”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Abdur Rehman believes fellow Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal wouldn’t get hit by batsmen today since he has plenty of variations in his arsenal.
Ajmal is widely regarded as one of the top spinners ever produced by Pakistan as he bamboozled many batsmen.
The 45-year-old from Faisalabad took 178 wickets in 35 Tests at an average of 28.10.
He also claimed 184 victims in 113 ODIs at an average of 22.72.
As for T20Is, he finished with 85 wickets in 64 games at an average of 17.83.
While Rehman feels that Ajmal wouldn’t get smashed around by today’s batsmen, he couldn’t say the same for legendary India spinner Anil Kumble and Sri Lanka icon Muttiah Muralitharan.
“I think he (Kumble) would have got hit if he was bowling now. Because he was not a big turner of the ball. It used to skid. In modern day cricket, the pace with which it is played, the line and length that he used to have he would have got hit,” he said on the Nadir Ali podcast as quoted by NDTV.
“Even Muralitharan would have been hit. During his time also he got hit. But Saeed Ajmal would not have got hit now because of the variety he had.”
Pakistan recently defeated Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series and will now take part in the Asia Cup, which will be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr