'If Ajmal is strong, he will overcome this'

MUMBAI: There is one man who would exactly know how Saeed Ajmal would be feeling right now. It is unlikely that the Pakistan off-spinner would have had a single night of decent sleep ever since he was banned from international cricket for an alleged 'illegal' action.

Almost 20 years ago, Test cricket's top wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan, then a young offie who had just begun to gain strides in top-level cricket, experienced something similar.

Much to his entire country's consternation, the Sri Lankan spinner was 'called' for chucking multiple times during his team's tour to Australia.

Murali's public humiliation marred the series, and served as a catalyst for Sri Lanka's triumph in the 1996 World Cup, as the whole team rallied around him.

As Pakistan great Javed Miandad pointed out, Ajmal can certainly take inspiration from Murali, who bounced back each time his action was questioned - he was banned from bowling the 'doosra' in 2004.

Murali himself, though, feels that it would largely depend on Ajmal himself on how he comes out triumphant in his hour of crisis.

"It is difficult to say how he would or should cope with it, because it depends on your personality, how strong you are in tacking obstacles that may appear along the way. If you are mentally strong, you will bounce back, if you're weak, you'll be finished," Muralitharan told TOI on Thursday.

The Lankan great, who finished his career with 800 Test wickets, felt that the best way to overcome this phase for Ajmal would be to 'prove it to people that he isn't doing anything wrong.'

"In my case, I was naturally upset when the allegations (of chucking the ball) were first made against me. After all, you're only a human! However, I believed in myself. I wanted to prove it that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I cleared around six-seven Tests during my almost two-decade old career. Once he proves it that his action is legal, and the 'bend' in his arm while delivering the ball is below 15 degrees, he can bowl again," said Murali, who is ironically now a spin bowling coach with the Australian team for their series against Pakistan in UAE.

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