The curious case of Saeed Ajmal

New Delhi: When Saqlain mushtaq was perfecting the art of ‘Doosra' with tennis ball at his home terrace, little he knew he would not only revive the dying art of off spin bowling but would have a series of bowlers who would follow on his foot steps.Its so strange that other than Saeed Ajmal, who has been banned by ICC for his illegal bowling action, there have been other bowlers who were reported with a suspect action and they have been the ones who had followed Saqlain's path. Ten out of the fourteen bowlers called for chucking from 1995 to date have been off-spinners. And all of them bent their arm a few degrees more while bowling the Doosra.While bowlers like Shoaib Malik and Johan Botha were banned from bowling the Doosra, Harbhajan Singh and Saeed Ajmal were given clearance to carry on.There seems to have been a recent change in stance by the ICC in clamping down on bowlers with suspect actions. New Zealand's Kane Williamson (July 2014), Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake (July 2014), West Indies' Shane Shillingford (December 2013), and South Africa's Johan Botha (October 2013) have all been reported and subsequently banned from bowling. Bangladesh's Sohag Gazi ((August 2014) and Zimbabwe's Prosper Utseya (August 2014) have been reported and will undergo testing.And now the brakes have been put on Ajmal's career as well.Interestingly, all the above bowlers have been off-spinners, and conspicuously, all have been reported in games with English umpire Ian Gould officiating.Skeptics have raised doubts over tests carried out in a controlled environment. A bowler could easily change his action during a match to give it that extra tweak, especially while bowling the Doosra. However, the ICC is very close in clearing the cloud over that too. And Ajmal's tests have found "all his deliveries to be illegal."In tests conducted on Ajmal in 2009, results showed that his arm was bent at 24 degrees when he brought it around his shoulder, but most importantly, he only straightened it by eight degrees before delivering the ball. Recent reports say it was Ajmal's off break that raised a few eyebrows. Earlier test results showed that oddly enough his arm flexed more while delivering his off break and arm ball than it did when he was bowling the doosra.How did Ajmal's action deteriorate so much that now all his deliveries are exceeding the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the ICC regulations? Did it happen overnight or was it a gradual slide? How were the experts so convinced in 2009 and even in 2012 when there were slight murmurs over his action. Or has the technology improved drastically since then?The ICC has been under pressure by the purists such as Ian Botham and Micheal Holding to rid the sport of dubious actions. From personal experience, Graeme Swann has been one of many who believe that it is ‘impossible' to deliver the Doosra without chucking the ball. But then Swann with his classical action could never bowl the Doosra, and many modern day off-spinners bowling the Doosra have adopted a front on action, like Ajmal's.Previously, bowlers like Saqlain, Murali and Harbajhan had reinvented off spin bowling, and now bowlers like Narine and Ajmal have further enhanced the art and skill that enriches the sport. Many of their mould are already in production world over.The laws of the game are of prime importance, but they have evolved over time. It is the spirit of cricket that has always been kept alive, and hopefully the new policy adopted by the ICC will help rehabilitate and blossom more exciting off-spinners rather than shun and restrict their kind.It is essential that the ICC keeps a strict control over the legality of bowling actions, but it is equally important that these laws are implemented in a uniform manner with consistency between its enforcers; the umpires.“Every law in cricket has changed since its inception, other than the length of 22 yard the pitch,” said Dean Jones during his recent return to the commentary after his racial comments about Hashim Amla eight years ago. While it is difficult to verify Dean's comment and historically trace the origin of every single cricketing law, one fundamental aspect of the game that has truly evolved over time is the art of bowling."Make no mistake that bowling a Doosra and reverse swing are brilliant skills.. Do we want the Doosra banned?" Jones said in reaction to Ajmal's latest ban.Former English allrounder Adam Hollioake perhaps described the latest development aptly: "Ajmal been banned for throwing? I don't get it. Just let them play. All the best bowlers chuck anyway!"Did the ICC then make a mistake in 2004 by allowing a tolerance of 15 degrees for suspect actions? Should it have taken a different stand then? Has it allowed a situation to mushroom and now acting in haste to correct it? How far will the ICC's recent decisions go in curtailing innovation in bowling?Most importantly, for Pakistan, will Ajmal be able to comeback from this now that all his deliveries have a problem? At 36, could this be the end of his career? Again, did the ICC make a mistake in the first place by allowing leeway to the bowlers?History is witness that change remains the only constant in this world, everything else changes with time. Australia and England, two countries who have prohibited the doosra from being taught in academies, will soon have bowlers that will bowl the doosra and their resistance to change will have been washed away with the tide of time.In a game that is primarily built on a battle between bat and ball, the balance between the two remains at the heart of every enthralling contest. While the bowler's ammunition; the cricket ball has more or less remained the same over the years, the batsmen are constantly provided with a new and upgraded weapon in their hands: the modern cricket bat.Ajmal now has the option of appealing through the PCB but that too is wrought in technicalities. For cricket, it is a very sad day because all of a sudden it seems a little short of magic.