Saeed Ajmal: Pakistan’s spin wizard
The game of cricket hasn’t been cruel. Just when we thought that the off-spinners breed was on the verge of extinction and the art of off spin bowling was completely in oblivion with the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan and the ouster of the non-performing Harbhajan Singh from the Indian side, the beautiful game gave us two exciting talents, Graeme Swann and Saeed Ajmal.
Buoyed by the 4-0 mauling of India at home, England was brimming with confidence and raring to take on Pakistan in the subcontinent. But one man stood up and took the wind out of their sails as he single-handedly chastened the entire English batting line-up, picking up career best figures of 7/55 and amassing 10 wickets in the first Test in Dubai. As Saeed Ajmal ripped through the English defenses and powered Pakistan to a thumping 10-wicket victory, the cricketing fraternity saw something special. Something special that the Pakistan fraternity hadn’t seen since the departure of Saqlain Mushtaq.
The land of Imran’s and Akram’s had seen spin bowling talents like Abdul Qadir, Iqbal Qasim, Mushtaq Ahmed and Danish Kaneria but they only had one talented off-spinner in their ranks, Saqlain Mushtaq. Already termed as the “Doosra Saqlain Mushtaq”, Ajmal has breathed new life into the Pakistan attack.
After waiting in the wings for more than a decade since making his first-class debut in 1996, Ajmal finally got a chance to shine on the big stage when he was selected for the Asia Cup in 2008. He performed decently on his debut with figures of 1/47 against India. But his major breakthrough came after his performances in his debut Test series in Sri Lanka in 2009 where he took 14 wickets from three matches. His first five-wicket haul in Tests ended up in a losing cause as Pakistan lost the match by 9 wickets against England at Edgbaston in August 2010. Since then he has performed consistently in both forms of the game.
The year 2011 was phenomenal for the star spinner who ended up as the highest wicket-taker in Tests with 50 wickets from just eight matches at a mind boggling average of 23.86. He bowled more overs as compared to 2010 and produced three 5-wicket hauls, including one 10-wicket haul. Amazingly, Pakistan won in five of them, drew two and lost just one.
Exceptional variations in his arsenal set him apart from the other spinners. He has played just 19 Tests and already scalped 100 wickets. Currently, Graeme Swann is his closest competitor with double the number of matches under his belt. What propels Ajmal ahead of Swann is the fact that the former has much more variety in comparison. Swann has the traditional off-spinner and the straighter one, while Ajmal has the traditional off-spinner, the arm ball which goes straight on, a killer ‘Doosra’ which goes the other way and the newly developed ‘Teesra’.
Ajmal’s progress as a bowler has been much better than Swann as he took 11 matches to reach his first 50 wickets in comparison to Swann’s 13. It took him just eight matches to pick up his next 50 wickets; and when he grabbed seven wickets in the second Test against England in Abu Dhabi, he overtook Mohammad Asif as Pakistan’s fastest 100-wicket taker and raced to the second spot in the ICC Test rankings. Even his mentor, Saqlain Mushtaq, took 23 matches to get to 100 wickets. Swann took 10 more matches to complete his next 50 wickets. 
Ajmal vs Swann last 12 months comparison in Tests
In the last 12 months since January 2011, Ajmal is way ahead of Swann as he has bagged 67 wickets from 10 matches at a staggering average of 21.19; while Swann has picked up 34 wickets from 9 matches at an average of 30.50.
Ajmal vs Swann Test Career comparison so far
Overall, Saeed Ajmal has a slightly better bowling average of 27.31 as compared to Swann’s 28.61, while Swann has a much better strike rate of 57.7 to Ajmal’s 62.5. But the rate at which the little spin wizard has been taking wickets, we won’t be surprised if he betters Swann’s strike rate over the next 12 months.
When Ajmal bowled that magical spell to Sachin Tendulkar in the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali, the fans were momentarily taken to cricket’s zenith. With an astute brain, infinite variations and a cool head on his shoulders, he can be a nightmare for any batsman. With Pakistan recovering from the repercussions of match fixing, they have found a much needed gem in their armoury. A gem called Saeed Ajmal.
