Ajmal offers to correct Hafeez's bowling action

Magician off-spinner Saeed Ajmal said he can help allrounder Mohammad Hafeez correct his bowling stance within a month if the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Hafeez approach him. While talking to DawnNews, Ajmal said that Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed had helped him correct his bowling action after he was suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2014.

Earlier this week, the ICC termed Hafeez's bowling action as illegal and he was suspended for the third time in his career.

Ajmal also expressed concern that ICC was "targetting only Pakistani bowlers" and urged the PCB to take notice.

"If the PCB takes some positive steps [to protect the bowlers], I am hopeful that Pakistani bowlers will not be singled out again for their bowling actions." Ajmal had expressed similar views in an earlier interview with AFP, where he said: "It seems that the process was meant for me and (Mohammad) Hafeez, all other bowlers with questionable actions are still playing." Ajmal, who announced his retirement earlier this month, dismissed chances of an international farewell match, saying that the PCB should have thought about it earlier.

"I don't want to beg them [PCB]," he said.

In 2016, however, Ajmal had rejected the national cricket body's offer of a "fitting sendoff". "I have no intention to quit one-day or Twenty20 cricket at the moment," the 38-year-old spinner had told DawnNews at the time. "I have worked really hard to stage a comeback and my performance in the National T20 Cup reflects that."