Did Shane Watson instigate the scrutiny on Saeed Ajmal's action?

Saeed Ajmal celebrates the wicket of Shane Watson back in 2012

Australia would have quite rightly been twitching at the prospect of facing Saeed Ajmal, the wily off-spinner, in next month’s Test, ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). But the Australians have been made to heave a sigh of relief as the International Cricket Council (ICC) have suspended Ajmal from bowling in international cricket for an illegal action on Tuesday, thereby ruling him out of the series.

Watson vs Ajmal

One of Australia’s own in Shane Watson can claim some credit for that as he has raised doubts about the legality of Ajmal’s action whenever Australia have been pitted against Pakistan in recent times.

It was allegedly at Watson’s behest that Ajmal had been reported for a suspect bowling action during an ODI in Dubai between the two nations back in 2009, prompting Ajmal to accuse the Australian all-rounder of constantly complaining about his action to the umpires and pressurising them into reporting the off spinner.

“They told me in the first game some of my doosras had a little elbow bend,” Ajmal had said after the match.

“I was very surprised. My first-class debut was in 1996 and this has not happened before. I think Watson was talking (with) umpires about this. He was speaking with them and when the match finished the umpires said there is a problem.”

Ajmal was unimpressed

Ajmal’s impulsive reaction had resulted in him being reprimanded by Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed in addition to losing his match fee.

“I’ve spoken to him already and told him to zip his lips and after the game we’ll have further discussions on this. It was unwarranted. He’s not supposed to be saying things and, unfortunately, under pressure he has said a few things,” Ajmal had added at the time.

Ever since then, Ajmal has made no bones about the fact that Watson’s wicket is the one he cherishes the most and gave him a fierce send-off after dismissing him on a few occasions when Australia were in the UAE for a short series a couple of years ago.

Considering the pair’s history, it would have been fascinating to see the two going head to head in the upcoming series, but that unfortunately won’t be the case at least for the time being.

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