Ajmal: It was torture living without cricket
Saeed Ajmal has described being banned from international cricket as 'torture', after he was selected back into the Pakistan squad for the tour to Bangladesh later this month.
Spinner Ajmal was selected in the Test, T20 and ODI squad's as Pakistan look to rebuild their reputation after a faltering World Cup campaign where they lost in the quarter-final to eventual champions Australia.
The 37 year-old had to sit and watch from the sidelines after he was banned from bowling by the ICC September last year because his action was deemed to be illegal. He has worked on his action and, after subsequent remedial work and retests, he is now allowed to play for Pakistan again.
Ajmal told AFP: "It was torture living without cricket. I have endured eight months of pain and it was the most difficult time of my life."
"I watched the World Cup on television and for 45 days I wanted to enter the television and play alongside my teammates and do my part. I felt they were missing me as I was always effective in the batting power-plays when I used to pick up wickets and that was missing from our game.
"I did my rehab and remedial work with the support of my family, friends and the Pakistan Cricket Board and now I am quite hopeful that I will be able to bowl as effectively as I used to before the suspension."
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