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It does not happen very often that an over-hyped phenomenon is able to live up to its pre-match banter. Even if some elements of the talk come true; the hype generally gets the better of the action. But Saeed Ajmal's role in the ongoing test series between England and Pakistan has somewhat contradicted this instinctively believed notion. The complete clueless-ness of the English batsmen to tackle the guile of Saeed Ajmal is bringing back memories of a rampant Shane Warne, who had Englishmen dancing to his beat in the 1990s, and while comparisons between Ajmal and Warne may yet be premature, there is no doubt the Pakistani offie is affecting players both mentally and on the pitch.

Not surprisingly, some of the efforts to counter the threat of Ajmal started before even the first ball of this series was bowled. Some debates, not necessarily arguments or allegations got instigated from the UK, led by the great Bob Willis regarding the training on the bowling of the doosra in English academies and utilizing the 15 degree bend rule in an optimized manner. Some other politically correct statements regarding the role of the ICC; which cannot be entirely ignored, whiffed at the discomfort faced by the English batsmen. That these comments didn't diminish after the Dubai test made it crystal clear that this debate was here to stay.

It was clearly visible from the apprehensive foot work of the English batsmen that the off field talk pertaining to picking Ajmal's variations was of primary concern amongst the English mindsets. The celebrated Poms batting order consisting of three batsmen in the top ten test batsmen in the world, and known for its great depth looked entirely in tatters. A careful onlooker could have easily sniffed a wicket coming while watching the wily spinner in operation. Players like Ian Bell, who ended 2011 with the highest test average of the year, looked psyched out at the prospect of what Ajmal was going to present the next ball and Trott and Cook who did manage to get some runs looked a mere shadow of themselves.

What caused England's misery can be as subjective as Geoff Boycott calling Stuart MacGill a lollypop leggie. On a more serious note, there were some obvious deficiencies England brought to the fore. The easiest and the most commonly voiced is their lack of ability against quality spin bowling on dusty and wearing tracks. From their foot work to their over disposition towards shot making, all pointed towards a commonly ignored element of failure – "Skill".

Another parallel scrutiny that can be drawn along with the former is the timing of pre-match banter. With all due respect, it looked clear that Ajmal's bowling is being shown more respect than it is ought to. The former statement was engraved permanently by the way Broad batted in the first innings taking the attack to the spinner. Any bowler, especially a spinner thrives on dot balls and English batsmen barring Broad gave Ajmal & Co. plenty of them. So, when a spinner is able to bowl consistently at one batsman, it becomes easier for him to try all the ammunition in his armory. This can be proved by the number of overs bowled or more specifically the run rate in the last two tests. So, it can be safely assumed that the Poms might have got a taste of their own medicine when their plan of unsettling Ajmal through pre-match banter backfired by making them more cautious against him.

The over emphasis on Saeed Ajmal and handling him in more ways than one seems to have distracted the English from the fact that they are faced against a team of eleven. This can be demonstrated by the success of Umar Gul and Abdul Rehman in the first and second tests respectively. Gul's 4 fer in the second innings of the Dubai test can be considered as the most uncalled for calamity under the current circumstances. If that was not enough, their clueless and undercooked approach to some accurate stuff from Rehman in the second innings of the Abu Dhabi Test leading to a career best 6-fer for the left arm spinner showed England losing focus of other potential threats.

With tours to Sri Lanka and India slated for the remainder of the year, the third test will mean much more than a final show of a lost cause because England's performance in Asia is expected to justify or nullify ICC's test ranking system. There is of course the small matter of $175,000 riding on the result of this test match, reserved for the team which finishes the 2011-12 season as the no.1 side in the ICC rankings!