Top 5 spells by Saeed Ajmal.

Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was once synonymous with the word “Mystery”. His action was off-beat, his variations were no lesser than decoding encrypted codes. There were only a few batsman who were able to go through this “Spinning Mystery”. But now, he is struggling to make a comeback, after being banned by the ICC for s period of time. Rumours suggest he may retire soon.

In the course of time, he was able to produce some great spells across all the formats of the game. These are the top 5 spells by Saeed Ajmal :

1. 7-55 vs England, 2012.



Pakistan hosted England at Dubai on 17th Jan 2012, a day this man would never forget. This is undoubtedly the best spell by Ajmal. It was in the Test match against England where he almost took all the wickets of the top order as he dismissed Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan and rattled the lower order with the dismissals of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Chris Tremlett. Due to this outstanding performance Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets and eventually Ajmal was adjudged the Man Of The Match. He ended the match with 10 wickets to his name.
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2. 7-95 vs Zimbabwe, 2013.



In an yet another great spell against Zimbabwe,Ajmal spun the web around the Zimbabwean batsmen in the test match at Harare on 3rd September. He again ran through the top order claiming the crucial wickets of Hamilton Masakadza, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Richmond Mutumbami and finished off the lower order with the wickets of Shingi Masakadza and Tendai Chatara. Ajmal picked his 7 wickets in the 1st innings. Pakistan won this match by 221 runs.

3. 6-42 vs West Indies, 2011.



When the WI hosted Pakistan at Guyana on 12th May 2011, Ajmal picked up 6 wickets in the second innings to dismiss WI for 152 to give Pakistan a comfortable target of 219 runs. His scalps were top order batsmen Darren Bravo,Ramnaresh Sarwan wicket-keeper Carlton Baugh and tail-enders Kemar Roach,Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo. Despite Ajmal’s 10 wicket haul in the match Pakistan lost this match by 40 runs.

4. 6-96 vs South Africa, 2013.



Ajmal started the 2013 year with a bang as he picked 6 wickets against South Africa,easily the best test side, at Cape Town starting from 14th February. Ajmal was in his tune and rhythm during the South African’s 1st innings as he picked up the wickets of all the 5 top order batsmen which included stalwarts like Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Alviro Peterson,Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis. He also went on to pick the wicket of Dean Elgar. He was very praised for his performance in this match as he picked up 10 wickets in the entire match against the best batting attack at that time. Again Pakistan failed to capitalize on Ajmal’s heroic efforts as they ended up as the loosing side.

5.    6-151 vs South Africa, 2013.



When South Africa toured Pakistan in 2013 in October, Ajmal was again at his best as he picked up 6 wickets. His scalps include Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Dean Elgar. He ripped open the lower order by picking up V.Philander, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir in quick succession. Again despite a 6-wicket haul by the Magician Ajmal,as he is fondly called, Pakistan lost this test match heavily by an innings and 92 runs.