People keep saying 'he was banned because he was from Pakistan. Why wasn't Harbhajan banned?': Asad Rauf on PAK great
Former Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf spoke in detail about the ban on the country's great, and also spoke about the lack of knowledge among the rules of the game among the players.
Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal had faced a ban in 2014 for an illegal bowling action. Ajmal was widely regarded as one of the best spinners of his time; representing the side in 35 Tests, the right-arm off-break bowler picked 178 wickets. He also took 184 wickets in 113 ODIs for Pakistan, and had 85 dismissals to his name in the shortest format of the game. There was significant controversy following Ajmal's ban, and over six years after the ban, the former spinner had said he was banned because he was from Pakistan.
“The test in 2009 and 2014 was same but the only difference was they had removed the medical conditions which they considered in 2009. When Muralitharan left cricket then ICC thought there is this guy Saeed Ajmal and he is from Pakistan and they can’t do anything against our decision,” Ajmal had said in 2020.
Former Pakistan umpire Asad Rauf has now opened up on the player's ban, insisting that the knowledge about the laws of the game is very less among the cricketers and in fact, many players were not even told why they were banned.
“Many people who have been banned have never been told the reason for it. They don't know about the 15-degree rule and all of that. When media came to talk to me, they told me that they had asked the board office to explain the ban. I asked them, 'what would they know about this? You should have come to us. It's our job',” Rauf said during a conversation on YouTube channel Sports Paktv.
“Why did Saeed Ajmal get banned? 63 of his deliveries in Sri Lanka were illegal. It's not because he was banned just because he was from Pakistan. People say ICC behaves like a step-child with Pakistan; such things don't happen at this level. People should've been made aware about such rules. People say, 'Saeed Ajmal was banned because he was from Pakistan. Why was Harbhajan not banned?' It's all nonsense. Such decisions are taken at a very high level and strictly according to the laws of the game,” Rauf further said.
Asad Rauf was a former Pakistan umpire, who, in 2013, was alleged to have been involved in spot fixing during the Indian Premier League. He was eventually withdrawn from the ICC panel.