PakPassion.net presents Part 1 of our Exclusive interview with the legend that is Saqlain Mushtaq.

A spin bowler who was a leader not a follower, Saqlain was someone who took off spin bowling to new levels with his innovation and flair.

Whilst some spinners prefer to defend, Saqlain was a spinner who led the bowling attack.

Saqlain was the fastest bowler to 100 One Day International wickets and his control and variety mesmerised even the very best batsmen of his generation.

The travesty though is that Saqlain only represented Pakistan on 218 occasions between 1995 and 2004.

By Pakpassion Staff (2nd February 2012)

PakPassion.Net: You've played in many great teams over the years for Pakistan, Surrey and all around the world. Which was the best team you were ever part of?

Saqlain Mushtaq: From 1996/97 to 1999, the Pakistan team was the best. There was a great atmoshphere in that team. They played very good cricket in that tenure and Wasim Akram was the captain. Obviously, at the same time I played for Surrey and Adam Hollioake was the captain and those were great days too. I think I can't forget those years and those games, but I think that was my best cricketing times, overall.


PakPassion.Net: You came up against many good batsmen, legends of the game. Who do you think was the best player of spin that you bowled to?

Saqlain Mushtaq: To be honest, all the great batsmen I must say were great players. Even though, you know the English players, they are not that skillful, the way Asians play spin bowling, but all the great batsmen are the best. They all give you a tough time, they don't give you any chance to just get them out. They give you a tough time and you have to work hard against them and you have to be full of confidence and have belief.

All these greats batsmen are full of belief and have so much control on their game, I don't want to mention just one or two. There are Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Azharuddin, I think they were the best to play against spin from India.

From Sri Lanka, Aravinda da Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga and Mahela Jayawardene, they were the best and I played against them and they gave me a tough time.

From England, Graeme Thorpe was a very good player, used to use the pace of the ball and had very good footwork. He had a lot of patience and was a great watcher of the ball, a tough guy to get out and he was really good against spin bowling.

From Australia, Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Daren Lehmann, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer, they all gave me a tough time. Even when it looked like you could get them out, their body language and the way they responded to the bowler, their levels of concentration and belief was phenomenal. Even when they were having a tough time, their skills, their self belief and confidence was different to other guys.

From South Africa, there was Jacques Kallis, a wonderful player and one who gave a tough time to the spinners. You know all the South Africans, Australians and English they are not like the Indian, Sri Lankan or Pakistani players - They [Asians] are different and are better than the South Africans, Australian or English at playing against spin bowling, but still [South African, Australian and English] players give you a tough time.

From the West Indies, Brian Lara, the legend, was a great player. On his day, he can put you out of the park and he had the ability to play all types of shots. He was a great player. Chanderpaul is a good player of spin, as well. This is why I don't just want to say two or three names, all the aforementioned were great batsmen who faced my bowling.


PakPassion.Net: At one point, there was talk that you might play for England if the chance came. What happened there? You were obviously qualified to play for England weren’t you, did anyone from the ECB get in touch with you?

Saqlain Mushtaq: Yes, the English press mentioned it and asked me about it and also one of the ECB officials spoke to me about my availability. Then in 2007, I played for Sussex – this was about 4-5 years back, the ECB official and I had a 5-10 minute chat during a Championship game, I don't know who the official was from ECB but it was just an informal chat.

Obviously, I spoke with the press as well and as you know my wife is from London and I played for Surrey, so we settled down in London. After the injury, I was in the country for quite a while. In fact in 2005, I got injured and in the years of 2004-2007 I was in London, I got my passport. At that time, I was playing for Sussex and that was when the press asked me, if I could get an opportunity to play for England would you play? I said that it would be a big honour for me to play for England and that was it.


PakPassion.Net: One of the greatest matches that a lot of people talk about is the Chennai Test of 1999 where Pakistan won by 12 runs and how the crowd gave the Pakistan team a standing ovation. Tell us a little bit more about that match as Pakistan seemed to win it from nowhere. Were you surprised by the crowd's reaction?

Saqlain Mushtaq: Yes definitely, that was a good game and I think that was one of the best games. I can't forget the feeling – the atmosphere, I can't forget the rhythm and the tightness while playing the Chennai Test match. The crowd was packed in that Test match and there were a lot of ups and downs in the game. But, in the last day it was quite hard as we were losing that game. To be honest, I think the credit was due to Wasim Akram as he kept believing in me and kept saying that 'in this game, your spin can turn the table and I trust and have a lot of faith in you.' He was actually backing me and I was trusting what he was saying, I was saying to myself to trust that guy and whatever he's saying. He's a legend and a great player - he knows the game and at that time I was the youngest person in the team and I kept saying to myself to trust the words of Wasim Akram and listen to whatever he is saying and keep giving your hundred percent.

Wasim was saying to me don’t worry about the boundaries which Sachin was hitting all over - and the way Wasim was talking to me by putting his hand on my shoulder and the way he was explaining and convincing me, I can never forget his words and his style, the way he explained things and I think all the credit goes to Wasim Akram.

Obviously, there was Moin Khan who was also backing me and many times he had a chat with me and I think it was Wasim Akram who had that feeling and he was the one who thought that I could win that game. I think that was the greatest time in my cricketing life.


PakPassion.Net: Tell us about yours and your team mates feelings when the crowd gave you all a standing ovation after the match when you completed a lap of honour? Were you surprised by the crowd's reaction?

Saqlain Mushtaq: You know we went to India after a long time, I think more than 15 years. We were all expecting to have a tough time in India, as the situation between both countries were so bad. To be honest, it was not like that, but we were expecting that they would not support us. Obviously, the Indian crowd were supporting the Indian team, they were quiet and not supporting us during the cricket, but after the cricket the whole country were treating us like friends. It was shocking, they were cheering us and congratulating us wherever we went. During the game, it was as expected, they were not supporting us and hooting at us as well, but we already knew that we were going after a long time and the situations of the countries was not good and we were expecting that. We had set in our minds that this would happen and we should forget that situation and keep trying. Thanks to God that nothing was excessive through the series.


PakPassion.Net: Speaking of India, Harbhajan Singh is a great spinner and has done a lot for Indian cricket, what has gone wrong with him? He seems to be lacking in confidence these days. Where do you think he is going wrong?

Saqlain Mushtaq: He is a great bowler and he has done a lot for India and has made great contributions for the country. Yes, in life you will have ups and downs and he needs some support and the people around Harbhajan should support him.

I think at the moment, the main issue for him is too much focus on Twenty20 cricket and secondly after all he is a human being – he can't do well all of the time and you will have your ups and downs and we should accept that. But, I think the media was after him when he was in England, but if you look at the pitches and conditions, they were more suitable for the fast bowlers. Swann was not even bowling that much, he was bowling 4-5 overs in one innings! All the fast bowlers were taking wickets. From India, Zaheer Khan got injured and Ishant Sharma was not bowling that well. He's a very good bowler, I am not saying he's not a very good bowler with good height and good pace. I think Ishant Sharma was struggling and the other bowler Praveen Kumar was bowling really well and then there was Harbhajan Singh. So, the pitches were suiting the fast bowlers, but the media seemd to have their eyes on Harbhajan Singh. I think before that series, Harbhajan was having a bit of bad form, but they kept blaming him, that was wrong I think.

This added more pressure on Harbhajan Singh, The critics were not talking about the fast bowlers or the batsmen. The batsmen were not performing well, but they were blaming Harbhajan Singh and put him under pressure. After that, they dropped him. I think if you see the whole scenario of the last series and before that, I think the Indian cricket officials were not treating Harbhajan Singh properly, they didn't treat him well. I think they should trust in him and he's done a lot for that country. Not just in one game, but he's played for years and years in all forms of cricket, T20, ODI, Test cricket and has been phenomenal. I think they should call him again and should back him. I think he has a lot of cricket left in him and they should give him support. He'll perform well and bring results for the country, they should just back him and bring him back into the squad.


PakPassion.net: The Doosra is getting a lot of coverage in the media at the moment due to Saeed Ajmal’s very good performance against England. You were the one who discovered the Doosra – can you tell us a little about how this came about? Was this something you were working on in the nets or is that something someone suggested to you?

Saqlain Mushtaq: The Doosra was a blessing for me. It was all my prayers answered in one. I used to ask the Almighty to give me something special, something that was unique and the Almighty answered my prayers and gave me the ability to bowl the Doosra.

I discovered the Doosra whilst playing cricket on the flat roofs of our house and neighbours houses in Lahore using a table tennis ball. I was 5 or 6 years old and my cousins and I would play some cricket matches on the flat roof. I started to experiment with the table tennis ball and bowl the ball at the wall with various grips to see what the result was. When I was 8 or 9 years old I knew how to bowl leg spin, how to use my fingers for various deliveries and how adjusting my grip would make the ball spin in differing ways. By 9 years of age, I knew how to bowl the flipper and how to bowl off spin.

From the rooftops of my house and the neighbour’s houses where we could only bowl slow due to the space constraints, I started to play club cricket when I was 11 or 12 years of age. Initially I used to bowl fast, I really used to like bowling fast and what I wanted to be was an out and out fast bowler. But because I was quite small and slim, my brother suggested to me that I would be better served bowling spin rather than trying to bowl quickly. It was a shock to the system but I reluctantly accepted my brother’s advice and started to bowl off spin in club cricket.

Gradually with the course of time I worked out how to bowl the Doosra effectively and how to adjust the grip and worked out properly which fingers I needed to use to bowl the Doosra, how to use my shoulder and how the ring finger helped with the Doosra. Playing on the rooftops at home though was where I really learnt how to bowl the Doosra.


PakPassion.net: A lot of talented cricketers have struggled to bowl the Doosra. Even a bowler like Graeme Swann hasn’t got the Doosra. It’s obviously a difficult delivery to bowl. Why is it some off-spinners are unable to bowl that delivery?

Saqlain Mushtaq: The Doosra is an art, there is nothing untoward or illegal about the delivery. Instead there are a few technical things you have to look at when bowling the Doosra. Flexibility is the key. You have to have flexible hands, you have to have a flexible wrist and fingers too. In addition you have to know which other body parts assist in the bowling of the Doosra, for example your calf, your shoulder, your tricep and your back muscles are all key to bowling the Doosra. When you bowl the Doosra then you feel a pull on different muscles as compared to the conventional off spinning delivery. I think where some off spinners struggle with the Doosra is that they don’t know about using different muscles to bowl this delivery. You also have to lock your wrist when bowling the Doosra and change the position of the fingers ever so slightly when delivering the Doosra. If you make the changes too obvious then the batsmen are going to pick it out of your hand easily.


PakPassion.net: We heard Bob Willis make a number of comments on the legality of Saeed Ajmal’s action during the first test match. What are your views on Ajmal?

Saqlain Mushtaq: There are absolutely no problems with Saeed Ajmal’s bowling action. Bob Willis is not the cricketing authority - it’s the ICC, the umpires and referees who are there to deem whether a bowling action is legal or illegal. Saeed Ajmal has been playing International cricket long enough now for his bowling action to have been thoroughly scrutinised around the world, by all umpire and referees. In addition he played County cricket last season, there was no mention of his bowling action then. I would urge Ajmal not to worry about anything and instead concentrate on bowling well in the remainder of the series.


PakPassion.net: With respect to your own career, how did your knee injury occur. Was it wear and tear or was it a sudden problem?

Saqlain Mushtaq: There were a few things. In my family, my grandfather, my father, my mother used to have knee problems – aches and pains - caused by arthritis. They had very thin cartilage but we had no technology in those days in Pakistan at the time and as a result we never found out. My parents used to put it purely down to the age factor.

In the second Test match of my career playing for Pakistan against Sri Lanka, I dived and banged my knee and as you know the outfields in Pakistan were very hard. I banged my knee and at that time we had no physio and no doctor - we had just one masseur with the Pakistan team in 1995.

After that, they just dropped me and didn’t look after me. I was young and my parents had no knowledge of what to do. The PCB sent me home and didn’t bother taking me to the specialist. I couldn’t move.

My father’s friend took me to a local masseuse, they are not qualified doctors or physicians – we call them pehlwan. These are people back home who put oil and bandage and if you dislocate a shoulder they put it back into place and give you a massage afterwards.

He had no idea of the problem I had or what I had done to my knee. He asked me to sit down on the floor, feet together and he put a cloth under the knee and then stood on my knee! I started screaming. He said to me don't worry son, you will be ok !

I think he damaged my anterior cruciate ligament at that time and my knee became a lot worse. I was on the sidelines, in bed, crying, watching the Third test match of that series at home, thinking I would never play cricket again.

So to recap, I was sent home from the squad after the injury by the PCB and then the knee problems were made worse by the masseuse. I cried, thinking I would never play cricket again the way I had the pain in my knee and the way it was swollen.

Then another friend of my father took me to the doctor, who gave me cortisone injections and I felt a lot better. After the third Test match that we lost badly against Sri Lanka, I went to the PCB and said yes, I’m fit and I want to play.

Anyway, the PCB sent me to play a One Day International against Sri Lanka in Sialkot without testing me. They just wanted to see if I was fit or not – they weren’t interested in what treatment I had received.

Before I went to Sialkot the same doctor gave me 6 or 7 more cortisone injections over the course of 5 or 6 days and I started to walk and run a little with a limp. I played in that One Day International in Silakot and I got injured again and I could not move! That was my One Day International debut and after the injury I was crying again.

Anyway, somehow I started to play again. To cut the story short, I've had the knee problem since my second Test match and first One Day International. I played throughout my whole career with that knee problem. The way I was treated early in my career, I was worried that I would be dropped if I was unfit. These were early days [in my career], so I continued having injections and massage – even massaging my own knee – every day or second day and putting ice packs on my knee and asking all of the physios from other teams that we played against for advice.

Finally in 1998-99 we had a physio with the team and then when I used to come to play for Surrey, we used to have a physio who knew how to look after me. I had my first operation when I was at Surrey and they educated me on my condition and then how to train – before that I didn’t even know how to train myself! So I got injured in my first Test match and then struggled throughout my whole career. My right knee was the problem knee and I used to compensate that with my left knee and then my left knee got injured!

I banged my left knee again and had an operation on it and then again on the right knee and the left knee again! In the last few games for Pakistan, I told the team that I am injured and I can’t play. They said we need you. I had problems with my shoulder and complications with my knee and back but unfortunately, I had to play my last few games with injuries after they asked me to play when I really did not want to play. They said to me we don’t have any players and we need you - you are needed for the country so I played got injured again and I never played again for Pakistan after that.

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