“I hate English language word” – Saeed Ajmal takes dig at colonial mindset

“I hate English language word” – Saeed Ajmal takes dig at colonial mindset

Former Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal recently opened up after receiving criticism for not being able to speak proper English. He came under harsh trolling after his interview with Nasser Hussain went viral on the internet in which he struggled to answer questions appropriately in widely accepted language.

Ajmal revealed that people used to ask him to communicate in English even when he was no.1 ranked bowler in the world. However, the spinner refused to do so and always demanded to interview him in his native language. He went on to say that the world should come to him rather than him going to the world to express something.

“Mujhe English nahi aati. Jab main performer tha aur number one bana tab kaafi logo ne mujhse kaha ki English mei baat kare. Lekin maine unhe kaha ki ye meri choice hai aur mai English nahi bolunga. Agar aapko interview lena aap meri mother toungue mei mujhse sawal kare. (I don’t know English. When I was a performer and became world number one, many people asked me to speak English but I told them it is my choice, I won’t speak English, if you want to interview me, talk to me in my native language),” Ajmal said during CricWick’s Ultra Edge podcast.

“Main shy nahi hu aur na hi hona chahiye. Hume English nahi aati aur jo hum kar rahe hai puri duniya dekh rahi hai. Duniya mei world number one ka mtlb hai pure world mein number one. Uske liye duniya ko aana chahiye usko duniya ke paas nahi jana chahiye,” Ajmal added.

Read More: WATCH: Bizzare moment in cricket as bails mysteriously fall off in a BBL match

English language has nothing do with Cricket

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal
Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal

The 45-year-old said that he hates the word “English language” because of society’s mindset. He pointed out that one can be termed good or bad based on his command over the language. Saeed Ajmal also expressed his disappointment at pairing Cricket with the English language.

“English language, I hate that word. Aapko English nahi aati to aap bure hai, aapko aati hai to aap duniya ke sabse ache hai. Cricket career English se kyu jod rahe hai?,” he concluded. Notably, earlier even the likes of Kapil Dev, Harbhajan Singh, Babar Azam, and others were trolled for their ‘poor English’.

Read More: “He has worked hard on his batting” – Dinesh Karthik hails Arjun Tendulkar for scoring century in Ranji Trophy

Ajmal is one of the best spinners Pakistan has ever produced in the game. He picked up 178, 184 and 85 wickets in Test, ODI, and T20I cricket respectively. Unfortunately, he missed the 2015 ODI World Cup after failing to rectify his bowling action for which he was banned by the ICC in 2014.

Read More: WATCH: Mohammed Siraj, Virat Kohli give a fiery send off to Litton Das on Day 2