Saving Ajmal

So another key Pakistan bowler is banned with a World Cup right around the corner. This is what Pakistan cricket fans are thinking right now; they may be forgiven for being naïve, for the report ostensibly mentions he flexed his elbow way more than twice the legal limit of 15 degrees. Forty-two degrees isn't just bending the arm, but arguably the law as well. It's hard not to see the fairness in the verdict. But it still doesn't discount the fact that, by maintaining an unclear vision on apparently such an important subject for all these years, the ICC has short-changed the game yet again. Either dodgy actions are bad for the game, or not. It serves no one if the ICC as an entity is always in two minds about such a sensitive subject.

Osman Samiuddin as always has been writing rather sensible stuff on this, he's advocated that the PCB should react to it as coldly as possible, for this is not a trivial matter to be taken lightly. The PCB has contacted Saqlain Mushtaq, the original whiz kid, to help his protégé. Ajmal himself is quite focused on the remedial work.

For what it's worth, a bowler's biggest asset isn't really variation, but guile. Variation is a manifestation of that guile and Ajmal has loads of it. Also, an experienced bowler is twice as dangerous as a raw one and Ajmal is high on that too. Accuracy is a bowler's fundamental weapon and again, Ajmal isn't short on that for he's bowled over after over, coming around the wicket landing the ball land on the leg stump.

What Ajmal would be short on right now, is his confidence. That's where Saqlain comes in handy. It's upto Saqlain to remind Ajmal that a spinner deceives not just with his turn, but with the drift he gets by putting a lot of revolutions on the ball. Shane Warne wasn't just a great bowler because he turned the ball that much, he was a great bowler for the simple fact that he invariably defeated the batsmen in the air. So it's the 'put the ball in the right areas and wait' faith that Saqlain would probably want to instil in his new student.

There is also the lack of clarity around what exact advantage a 'chuck' gives to a bowler. In our years of street cricket, we've always told the 'batta bowler' (chucker if you will), to bowl slow. For being fast and generating the pace with the flexing of elbow instead of the wrist is deemed unfair in street cricket with pitches shorter than the luxurious 22 legal yards. So the street logic is that the spinner doesn't get much benefit from chucking. But with the heavier, bigger, harder ball used in international cricket, the flexing of the elbow can definitely give the arm more ways to put extra 'fizz' on the ball. The extra revolutions can make the ball drift across mid-air, making the batsmen either play on the up, or end up at the wrong place should he chooses to meet the ball on the bounce.

Ajmal's remedial work isn't just with the arm. The body is subservient to the mind, it's the mind that gets clouded after such a ban. For all his jovial self, Ajmal is a sensitive, humble and caring team man. One doesn't have to be a Pakistani to empathize with him. Here's a man who had all but given up on his international career when he got picked for the national team and then ended up sending down more overs than all but one bowler on the planet, taking more wickets than most. Success stories like this should be standard text in leadership classes.

Ajmal has served his country and the game with honour and pride. Allegations of cheating are unfair and uncalled for. Let's just hope he gets back stronger, because as it stands, the game is poorer without him.