LONDON, Jan 23 (INP): England will rely on the same tactics it had used against former Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan to tackle Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal in the second Test in the United Arab Emirates.
Muralitharan reinvented off-spin bowling with the ability to bowl the 'doosra', which posed a threat to England's battling line-up.
But Muraitharan had to work twice as hard to claim wickets when he bowled to England batsmen in the 2007 Test series.
The 2007 series was a hard-fought contest in which England batsman Matt Prior was able to tackle Muralitharan's spin attack, and he used those experiences to score 70 runs in the first Test in the UAE.
"I remember playing Murali in Sri Lanka and one of the big things we spoke about then was the first 20 balls you faced from him felt pretty frantic, pretty hectic. He bowled very quickly at you, which Ajmal does," The Mirror quoted Prior, as saying.
"If you get through that period with the men round the bat and the oohs and aahs, suddenly the game slows down. You start to see his wrist better and get the rhythm of the game," he added.