Pakistan Ace bowler Saeed Ajmal retired from the competitive cricket on Thursday. While retiring, he hit out at the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) protocol to assess bowling actions and made a sensational claim about bowling actions of international bowlers.

Ajmal also dug out one of the incidents that took place in 2011 World Cup which involved Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. He is yet to solve the puzzle from his cricketing career. The Pakistani off-spinner is still perplexed over why the DRS overturned the umpire’s LBW ruling against Sachin Tendulkar even though the ball hit his pads plumb-in-front.

More than six years may have passed but Pakistan’s top off-spinner Sajeed Ajmal still can’t “understand” how Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged not out when he was rapped on the pad by him during the 2011 World Cup semifinal. “I was totally convinced I had him in front of the stumps but how the umpires didn’t give him out, I still can’t understand,” Ajmal said.

While replays revealed that the ball pitched in line but according to Hawk-Eye prediction the ball was missing leg stump. Hence, the decision was overturned. “I was 110% confident when the referral was made that the batsman was out,” Ajmal had said earlier. Later on, Tendulkar went on to score a crucial 85 that earned him the Man of the Match award.

Meanwhile, after announcing his retirement from the sport, Ajmal criticized the ICC for the way it handled the controversy surrounding his bowling action. “I am retiring with a heavy heart because firstly I think the ICC’s protocol is too harsh and if all bowlers today playing international cricket are tested I am sure at least 90 percent will fail to clear this protocol,” Ajmal said.

Asked what issues he had with the ICC protocol, Ajmal said it didn’t take into account the fact that some bowlers had natural medical issues with their arm while some may have developed problems after some accident. “To be honest if you talk about the current extension of the elbow allowed I don’t think many of the current bowlers meet the ICC standards all the time. Some relaxation has to be allowed on medical grounds.”

Ajmal has always claimed that a road accident caused his arm to bend to some extent.

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After a successful but controversial career, off-spinner Ajmal finished with 184 wickets in 113 ODIs and 85 in 64 Twenty20 Internationals, 178 wickets in 35 Tests, the last of which was at Galle in Sri Lanka in 2014, where his bowling action was reported for the second time. His action was first reported during an ODI series against Australia in the UAE in 2009.

His time in the limelight was cut short following a temporary ban for chucking, Ajmal returned to the sport in 2015 with a remodeled action but without much success. The 40-year-old Ajmal retired from all cricket after Faisalabad lost to Lahore in the National T20 Championship.

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