Ajmal apologises for 'no difference between Whatmore and local coach' comments

Veteran Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal has reportedly offered an apology to national coach Dav Whatmore for his remarks saying that there is no difference between Whatmore and a local coach - apart from his pay packet and the language.

After the comments were published online, the under-fire Whatmore, who has regularly been criticised by former stars claiming that a local would do a better job of coaching the erratic national side, had tweeted that he was 'deeply upset and hurt' over Ajmal's insinuation in an interview.

However, the Express Tribune reports that following Whatmore's tweet, Ajmal personally apologised to his coach after which Whatmore again tweeted that Ajmal is a 'very nice person' but had merely 'fallen prey' to a few 'tricky questions'.

The report mentioned that Ajmal had praised former coaches like Waqar Younis and Mohsin Khan for better handling the team than Whatmore in the interview, although he said that he is not unsatisfied under Whatmore as he is a good coach and helped Sri Lanka lift the World Cup in 1996.

The pressure grew on Whatmore after Pakistan's humiliating defeat against Zimbabwe last month, with the daunting prospect of a series against world number one Test team South Africa just around the corner, the report added.