Sir Vivian Richards suspects Saeed Ajmal bowling action

Former West Indian captain, Sir Vivian Richards, has raised questions about Pakistani off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal’s, bowling action.

The Cornered Tigers defeated West Indies by a handsome margin of 196 runs in the second Test at Saint Kitts to level the series 1-1. Ajmal played a crucial role for Pakistan in the series as he claimed 17 scalps in the two matches and was named Player of the Series.

Richards was very careful about his words but criticized International Cricket Council (ICC) about the 15 degree rule regarding bowling actions. Richards said that this rule is there to accommodate some of the off-spinners of the world.

He did not name anyone but the rule was brought in for Muttiah Muralitharan and later on some of the other spinners, such as Harbhajan Singh also took advantage of that rule.

Richards said, "Let me put it as mildly and as diplomatically as it can be put. When you look at bowling actions for off-spinners in the world at present, the [15 degree] rule made by the ICC has bred what we've seen this series. I wouldn't be blatant as some others, but the rules have helped the freaky stuff we have at present. It accommodates doosras and things we see like that".

The former West Indian skipper, who is considered as one of the most destructive batsmen to have played the game, went on to criticize the Windies batsmen in the series. According to Richards, the Caribbean batsmen are not capable enough of facing high quality spinners and that is one of the major reasons behind the success of Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in the two-match Digicel Test series.

Richards feels that the West Indian management should work on the technique of some of the younger batsmen and let them know how to play the spinners. He feels that the young Caribbean batsmen are talented and little bit of guidance can help them a great deal.

"The problem is that whenever they [West Indies] are confronted by top-class spinners they freeze. It's creating a paranoia and someone needs to ask the batsmen what's needed”, Richards added.