'Before my debut, I was told that this would be my first and the last match' - Saeed Ajmal

Veteran offie Saeed Ajmal is one of the finest spinners to have played the game for Pakistan and had all the important tricks in his arsenal to bamboozle the best batters of his time. However, Ajmal could not go on to have a very successful international career as he was always of accused of bowling with a suspected action.

Lately, Ajmal recalled an incident where the Pakistan team management had given him a huge scare before his international debut against arch-rivals India during an Asia Cup 2008 fixture. As per the veteran offie he was told that his debut match could turn out to be the first and last match of his career.

They said that if I performed well, I would play and if I don't do well, I won't: Saeed Ajmal

"I got my first match against India. Before my debut, I was told that this would be my first and the last match. They said that if I performed well, I would play and if I don't do well, I won't. And the match was against India; the entire world watches that game,” said Saeed Ajmal on the Ultra Edge podcast.

At the same time, the Faisalabad cricketer also talked about bowling his heart out despite not being in the pink of his health. In that match, Ajmal had cramps but still kept the run flow in check by containing the hard-hitting Indian batters.

"When I went inside, I faced cramps. Misbah (Misbah-ul-Haq) was the captain, and he told me I had to do overs in the powerplay. I said that I'm having cramps, give me overs now and let me leave. He replied, 'what are you saying? I have to give you overs in the end,” said Ajmal.

"I had more cramps. I bowled my first five overs and did well. I didn't bowl the doosra. I contained runs. Then, I bandaged myself, bowled three to four overs and faced cramps again,” he further added.

The premier off-spinner had an impressive debut as he finished with figures of 1/47 at an economy of 4.7 in his 10 overs. He picked up the big wicket of power-hitter Yusuf Pathan and dismissed him for a duck.

Pakistan went on to win the contest by eight wickets courtesy of Younis Khan’s unbeaten 117-ball 123.