Karachi, July 17: Former Pakistan off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed has advised the team management to go easy on Saeed Ajmal, saying that there is no adequate backup in the event of an injury to the latter.
"Ajmal is an asset for Pakistan and he is not getting any younger. He should be handled with great care," The Express Tribune quoted Tauseef, as saying.
"He has bowled tirelessly and won matches for Pakistan. To enable him to keep going for a long time, he needs to be played only in important matches and series because there is no off-spinner in the domestic circuit who could replace him if he gets injured," he added.
Ajmal, 34, has missed only a handful of matches since making his debut in 2008. His importance is such that Pakistan''s defeat in the last One-Day International (ODI) against Sri Lanka was blamed on the team management after they decided to exclude him from the line-up.
According to Tauseef, Pakistan struggled to find an able replacement for former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq whose career was also brought to a halt due to injuries when it was at its peak. Tauseef said that a lesson needed to be learnt from that episode.
© ANI
