Saqlain Mushtaq urges Ajmal to concentrate on his bowling

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan great Saqlain Mushtaq on Tuesday urged Saeed Ajmal not to worry about anything and instead concentrate on his bowling for the remainder of the UAE series against England.

Pakistan will play England in the second Test at Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

"There are absolutely no problems with Saeed Ajmal's bowling action. Ajmal has been playing International cricket long enough now for his bowling action to have been thoroughly scrutinised around the world, by all umpires and referees. Ajmal should now concentrate on his bowling well," Pakpassion.net quoted Saqlain as saying.

Saqlain also revealed how he developed the Doosra at a young age on the rooftops of Lahore and why some off spinners struggle to bowl the Doosra, despite being excellent bowlers in their own right.

"The Doosra was a blessing for me. It was all my prayers answered in one. I used to ask the Almighty to give me something special, something that was unique and the Almighty answered my prayers and gave me the ability to bowl the Doosra."

Saqlain said that he discovered the Doosra whilst playing cricket on the flat roofs of our house and neighbours houses in Lahore using a table tennis ball.

"I was 5 or 6 years old and my cousins and I started to experiment with the table tennis ball. When I was 8 or 9 years old I knew how to bowl leg spin, how to use my fingers for various deliveries and how adjusting my grip would make the ball spin in differing ways. By 9 years of age, I knew how to bowl the flipper and how to bowl off spin," he said.

Saqlain said that some off spinners struggle with the Doosra as they do not know about using different muscles to bowl this delivery. "You also have to lock your wrist when bowling the Doosra and change the position of the fingers ever so slightly when delivering the Doosra. If you make the changes too obvious then the batsmen are going to pick it out of your hand easily," he concluded. (APP)