Ajmal plays down revenge talk ahead of SA series

Pakistan lost 3-0 in the Tests on their tour of South Africa earlier this year, but their offspinner Saeed Ajmal says revenge will not be on his mind when the two sides clash again later this month.

"There's nothing like revenge in cricket, but we will give them a strong reply," Ajmal said at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. "I can't say 100% Pakistan will win, but if we play to 100% we will win in UAE."

One of Pakistan's greatest results in Tests was their 3-0 victory over the then No. 1 side England in 2012 in the UAE, and Ajmal hoped that the team could perform at a similar level against the current No. 1 side.

"Last time when we played in Dubai, England was No. 1 and we were at the same position and we performed well," he said. "Inshallah against South Africa we will try our best to perform as well as we did against England."

Ajmal was one of the stars of the success against England, turning in a Man-of-the-Series performance with 24 wickets at 14.70. "I can't say that I will take 20 or 40 wickets, but I am trying my best to be Man of the Series in the coming series."

Pakistan's Test record has been ordinary since that England series, winning only one Test - against No. 9 ranked Zimbabwe. Ajmal hoped that playing in Dubai would change that. "We are going in with full preparation, we are focussed and we know it takes spin in Dubai, we haven't played badly in Dubai thus far and we will try to do the same."

The first Test starts on October 14, in Abu Dhabi.