Marco Jansen: “If I were batting, I’d like to face Saeed Ajmal. I was very young back then, and it always seemed like batters struggled to pick him. I’d love to experience how tough it really was to face him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
South Africa fast-bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen wishes he could have faced legendary Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal.
Explaining why he would have liked to battle against Ajmal, he noted that the 48-year-old troubled a lot of batsmen with his different variations.
Ajmal represented Pakistan in 35 Tests and took 178 wickets at an average of 28.10.
He also played 113 ODIs and claimed 184 wickets at an average of 22.72.
As for his T20I career, the Faisalabad native picked up 85 wickets in 64 matches at an average of 17.83.
“If I were batting, I’d like to face Saeed Ajmal. I was very young back then, and it always seemed like batters struggled to pick him. I’d love to experience how tough it really was to face him,” Jansen was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan recently took on South Africa on home soil and began by drawing the Test series 1-1.
They then proceeded to win both the T20Is and ODIs 2-1.
Currently, the men in green are in action in a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, where they hold an unassailable 2-0 lead.
After this, Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in a T20I tri-series from November 18 to 29.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem