Saeed Ajmal on Pakistan cricket: We have definitely taken a step back and we have to accept that

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal, recently relieved of his role as the national team’s spin-bowling coach, now mentors local teams and works with Islamabad United in the PSL.

Despite being away from the national setup, he remains deeply invested in Pakistan cricket and is disappointed with the team’s Champions Trophy performance at home. Ajmal criticizes the frequent PCB leadership changes and the selectors’ handling of Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan.

However, he cautions against knee-jerk reactions. In a chat with Sportstar, he shares his insights on Pakistan cricket and why the country struggles to produce quality spinners despite its rich legacy.

Q – Pakistan hosted a global tournament after nearly three decades, but the team failed to make it to the knockouts. How would you react to that?

A – It was very disappointing for us. Of course, it was a matter of pride that Pakistan was hosting a global event after 30 years. I never played an ICC event at home, despite making my debut against India in the 2008 Asia Cup.

So, this time around, it was disappointing to see Pakistan out of the Champions Trophy in the first round. The team did not give a good performance. Adding to that, there was no final in Pakistan, despite us hosting. As a fan, as an ex-cricketer and as a Pakistani, I would have liked the final to be played at home. Just like the Indian fans don’t want their teams to play outside India, we also wanted to watch India and Pakistan play at home.

I have always believed that sports should be kept out of politics. We are sportsmen. Sportsmen mean love and affection for each other. Off the field, we are friends. I know it was decided much in advance that India won’t travel to Pakistan, but we still regret not having all the matches at home. It would have been a lot of fun.

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Pakistan has had a history of producing some quality spinners. Despite playing in known conditions, Pakistan went ahead with just one spinner in the Champions Trophy. Does that indicate that the team’s spin cabinet is empty and there aren’t enough talented spinners?

Even teams like New Zealand and Australia played with three spinners, but I don’t know if our calculation was wrong. It was our home and we could have played at any venue of our choice, but we misjudged the conditions and were caught in the middle. Neither could we come up with a spin-friendly surface nor a pace-friendly strip, and we got caught there.

There were issues with our selection of the team. Why did we not play another spinner? Why did we not pick the right players? If you look at our cricket, we have definitely taken a step back. We have to accept that. Our pace bowling has become slower, and we are more comfortable playing in the shorter format. But all the big teams that are performing well have done so by playing the longer format, and once you do that, you can automatically shift across formats. We need to follow that model. We have to focus on the longer format to get better results.

The rise of league cricket has done a lot of harm to us. So, the players who are coming in, they want to play league cricket in four days, earn money, have fun and move on. If we play with this attitude, we will run out of stars. Stars are made by playing Test cricket. If we promote our domestic cricket, we will have a lot of spinners.

In the past, we had given several suggestions to the PCB that when the domestic season starts, they should make three types of wickets. Each team should be given two games on spin surfaces, one on fast strips and one surface should be an outright batting surface. By doing this, you will get to test your batters as well as the bowlers.

We have suggested several things to the PCB chairman. But the biggest setback has been the fact that over the last five to six years, the chairman has changed three to four times. And every time the chairman changes, it affects our cricket a lot. Whoever comes in brings in his own people, changes schedules and that has severely affected the team since there’s no continuity.

With the change in regime, the coaching staff, too, has seen frequent changes. Has this affected the team?

Certainly, it has had a big impact. Some coaches signed up on the condition of coming to Pakistan only during the matches, but this is not how coaching is done. A coach has to be in Pakistan, with the players, plan things out – in terms of the pitches, the players – but if a coach isn’t present, then obviously things won’t work.

Pakistan’s cricket head coach Jason Gillespie attends a press conference at the end of the fourth day of the second and last Test cricket match between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
| Photo Credit:
AAMIR QURESHI/AFP

For instance, Jason Gillespie did push the team, but that wasn’t enough. I think we need to mix and match. If we hire an overseas coach, then we need to ensure that the crux of it remains with the local people who would take care of things. Look at India, most of its support staff is local, barring a couple of them. We need to follow that system.

I was the spin bowling coach a few months ago, but now I am not there. Someone is there today, tomorrow he may be replaced with someone else, so this constant chopping and changing has been a huge problem.

You spoke about chopping and changing, but Aaqib Javed has been with the team for quite a while, in different positions, but even then, the team struggled. What was the reason? Did the team lack a player with an X factor, or was there a lack in the team’s batting depth?

In ODIs, you have to play a little more positively since it is longer than the T20s. Saim Ayub was our opener and his absence was a big blow. I don’t know what they did with Imam-ul-Haq. He’s a good player, who maintained a consistent average of 45 as an opener, so how can you keep him out as an opener? That’s not all. First, you drop him and then you again call him back, that’s not fair on the player because his confidence takes a beating. He constantly fears that he may be thrown out again, so that was a major problem.

India’s Virat Kohli in a conversation with Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq during their ICC Champions Trophy 2025- Group A match.
| Photo Credit:
ICC-X

Then, we forced Babar Azam to become an opener. So, there are problems, and if you want to build a team for the future, you can’t make 50 changes in a year. You have to minimise your changes and create a bench. You have to give time to the players, irrespective of their form. Look at the way India backed Virat Kohli. His bad patch continued for long, but no one forced him to quit and not many wanted him to leave, while Babar, who is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars of Pakistan cricket, is going through a lull, everyone is busy pulling him down.  Aapke paas ek hi toh star hai (You have only one star), if you degrade him also, then how will your cricket run? These are the big issues. Our former cricketers should keep their mouths shut.

As a cricketer, one must realise that bad patches are part of a player’s career. You can’t play cricket the same way all your life. Even if you were Sachin Tendulkar, you couldn’t score 100 runs in every match. He has also been out for duck. He is a world-class player, but he has also gone through bad patches. So, you have to show some patience. Cricketers give it their all to the sport and when chips are down, they need that support. When he’s World No.1, he does not need support, but he needs it at a time when there’s a rough patch.

As a coach, one needs to understand this. If I am coaching someone like AB de Villiers, I wouldn’t tell him how to play, rather I would tell him how to make the most of the conditions. Similarly, when under pressure, our players deserve this backing.

How do you see the decision of dropping Babar or Muhammad Rizwan from Pakistan’s T20 squad, but keeping them for the ODIs? Do you think that there should be two separate teams for separate formats?

(Laughs) Mark my words, they will again get them back into the T20I team. If you want to send a clear message to Babar and Rizwan stating that they won’t be considered going forward, that’s one thing. But you have dropped them from T20Is, but they are still part of ODIs. So, what do you do if they score runs in ODIs against New Zealand? You bring them back again to the T20I squad?

Pakistan’s captain Mohammad Rizwan gestures at the end of the ICC Champions Trophy one-day international (ODI) cricket match between Pakistan and India
| Photo Credit:
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP

Look, the way you’ve removed them is wrong. It’s not like they are the only ones who haven’t scored, while others have. That’s not the case. Ideally, the selectors should sit down with Babar, and discuss about rest so that he can come back stronger.

Babar and Rizwan are great players. Their stats are as good as anyone, but the only difference is – they don’t bat aggressively, but they still score runs. Our guys have suddenly realised that in international cricket, everyone plays aggressively. Come on, what aggression are we talking about? If they are your proven matchwinners, you don’t need aggression. Even legends like Virat often pace their innings slowly before attacking, that’s his style. We need to allow our players to play their natural game, and ensure that they are mentally in the right space.