I forced Sachin Tendulkar to retire from ODIs, jokes Saeed Ajmal

New Delhi, Aug 23: Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal's might have a good sense of humour, but his joke on Sachin Tendulkar will certainly not go down well with the Indian batting legend's fans. In a recent interview to Wisden India, Ajmal has jokingly said that Tendulkar was forced to retire from ODI after being dismissed by him in the Asia Cup last year.

In the India-Pakistan clash of Asia cup 2012 at Dhaka's Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Tendulkar was scalped by Ajmal after scoring a 48-ball 52. India won the match by six wickets and with 13 balls to spare but interestingly, Tendulkar quit playing ODIs after that game.

Ajmal jokingly says that it was his wicket that forced Tendulkar to call time on his ODI career after 463 matches. Ajmal also lauded his success against Tendulkar. "I took his wicket in Mohali (2011 World Cup semifinal after Tendulkar scored 85 as an opener with Virender Sehwag) as well. He is a super superstar, that's what the world calls him. He has nearly 50,000 runs in professional cricket. So obviously it was great moment for me when I took his wicket.

"He was having trouble in picking the 'doosra' in his last ODI in the Asia Cup. Misbah said to me we could get him out caught at slips. Younis Khan moved to slips and it worked out exactly as planned. I got the wicket of the world-class batsman and it came off such a great delivery that he was compelled to quit ODI cricket after it," Ajmal said.

This is not the first time when Ajmal has taken on Tendulkar. In March last year, after the Asia cup, Ajmal had questioned Tendulkar's ability to play doosra and said, "If Sachin can't read doosra, then he is nearing his end."