Pakistan include Malek at Misbah's request

Dubai: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq has sought the inclusion of former captain Shoaib Malek in the one-day and Twenty20 squads against England.

Malek did not initially figure when the line-ups were announced early on Tuesday, but a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) statement later said: "On the request of team captain Misbah, the National Selection Committee has agreed to send Malek to join the Pakistan squad."

Malek, who turned 30 on February 1, has played in 200 One Day Internationals (ODI), scoring 5,223 runs and picking up 139 wickets. He has also played in 36 international Twenty20 matches.Meanwhile, an interview given by Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal to the BBC created a stir. He claimed that he has a special allowance for his bowling arm to exceed the bending limit currently permitted by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"Someone is telling me my action is bad because the ICC allowed me as a bowler 23.5 degrees, because my arm is not good. A few years ago I had an accident. Otherwise, no problem, the action was cleared by ICC," he told BBC.

This forced the ICC to intervene and say that no dispensation has been given to anyone. In fact, what Ajmal meant was his elbow has a natural angle of 23 degrees and that he does not exceed the permitted 15 degrees tolerance limit.

Ajmal's lack of fluency in English resulted in the confusion and the PCB also clarified Ajmal's comments through their team manager Naveed Akram Cheema, who said: "Ajmal was referring to the angle of elbow abduction, i.e. the angle of the upper arm to the forearm and not the degree of elbow extension. This angle is approximately 23 degrees in Saeed's case."

ICC General Manager - Cricket, David Richardson, said: "There is a big difference between the "elbow carry angle" (elbow abduction) and the degree of elbow extension. There is nothing preventing a bowler bowling with a bent arm, provided he does not straighten it beyond the permitted degrees of tolerance."