Saeed Ajmal says ICC has cleared his action

Saeed Ajmal said he felt no pressure when questions were raised over his bowling action during the first Test 

Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal on Tuesday claimed he is given special dispensation by the International Cricket Council over his action.

Ajmal, who had his action reviewed by the ICC in 2009, revealed the governing has allowed him to bend his elbow beyond the permitted 15 degrees.

"Someone is telling me my action is bad but the ICC allows me to bowl 23.5 degrees because my arm is not good but that's my problem,” Ajmal was quoted saying by BBC.

"Apart from that there is no problem with my action, it has been cleared by the ICC."

Ajmal said he felt no pressure when questions were raised over his bowling action during the first Test.

"No I am used to these things. The British media usually does this to pressurise us. I listen from one ear and take it out from the other. For me it was business as usual. The series is over and I'm the man of the series and no one has reported my action," he insisted.”

Mystery surrounds the fate of the much hyped "Teesra" delivery, which Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal claimed he had specially developed for the Test series against England and has used it during matches.

Pakistan won the three-match Test series 3-0 against the No. 1 Test side with Ajmal picking up the man-of-the-series award for his haul of 24 wickets.

But how many of these wickets were the result of the mystery "Teesra" ball remains a mystery. Ajmal though said he that had used the delivery in the series but no one had as yet been able to identify it.

"I used the 'Teesra' in the series but I don't think anyone spotted it. I will use it again in the one-day series and after the series is over I will let people know what is that delivery," Ajmal told a Pakistani channel today.

Ajmal said he had prepared the "Teesra" keeping in mind the strong England batting line up.

"I worked hard on developing this ball before the series when I was in Faisalabad. What is fascinating for me is no one seems to be able to tell which is the 'Teesra' delivery."

Ajmal said what was satisfying for him was throughout the series the batsmen also struggled to read his "Doosra", a delivery that is bowled by an off-spinner but goes the other way and deceives the batsmen.

Interestingly his captain, Misbah-ul-Haq told PTV sports that while it was a fact that Ajmal had been bowling this "Teesra" ball in the nets but he did not use it during the Test series.

"Yes he has developed this special ball and tried it in the nets but I don't think he used it in the matches as yet," Misbah said.

The bowler also credited his spin partner Abdur Rehman, who took 18 wickets in the series, for his success.

"I think Rehman has been brilliant. He is a great person to bowl with in tandem. He took pressure off me. I also appreciate the hardwork put in by our captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

He told us from the start that there would be spin pitches and he had confidence we could deliver," Ajmal said.

He felt that the success achieved by the Pakistani team in Tests was mainly due to the ling-term planning. He claimed that the captain and coach had planned everything before the series, including which bowler would bowl to which batsman.

Source:http://www.cricketcountry.com/cricket-articles/Saeed-Ajmal-says-ICC-has-cleared-his-action/11177