Saqlain was a better bowler than Muralitharan
Saeed Ajmal made his debut for Pakistan at the advanced cricketing age of 30, but made an immediate impact with his variations, especially the doosra, and his ability to handle pressure
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Saeed Ajmal made his debut for Pakistan at the advanced cricketing age of 30, but made an immediate impact with his variations, especially the doosra, and his ability to handle pressure. He played a crucial role in Pakistan's drive to the 2009 World Twenty20 title, but in the same event the following year was taken for 22 runs from four balls by Michael Hussey, as Australia stole a memorable semi-final. Ajmal talks about all this, and more, in an interview with PakPassion.net.
If no English cricketer can bowl the doosra then does that mean that no other bowler can do it with a legal action? If an English bowler was bowling the doosra then it would be considered a world class delivery. The same things were said about reverse swing. Reverse swing was introduced by Pakistani bowlers, the googly was introduced by Abdul Qadir, and the doosra was introduced by Saqlain Mushtaq. They will never accept it unless an English bowler can bowl it. The English have been playing cricket for more than a 100 years, why can't they come up with such variation? Our country is small but we've been blessed with great talent. We don't have the resources that other countries have but we make up for it with talent and hard work.
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo