While the beleaguered Pakistan cricket team continues to grapple with the chequered form of its players and a spate of injuries ahead of the Cricket World Cup, ace off-spinner Saeed Ajmal’s clearance by the International Cricket Council on Saturday has come as a morale booster.

Read: Saeed Ajmal's bowling action declared 'legal'

The player put in four months of a Herculean effort to correct a suspect bowling action, for which he was banned by the ICC last year, and made a swift return to the game.

Take a look: ICC bans Saeed Ajmal from bowling

As he underwent a number of biomechanics tests at London and Chennai, though without much success, his detractors insisted that Ajmal’s brilliant career had come to a sad end.

Read: Will this be the end of Ajmal?

The emergence of the talented Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Baber in the back-to-back series in the UAE against Australia and New Zealand had further dampened Ajmal’s chances of returning to the national team.

To his credit, Ajmal has remained focused throughout his period of banishment and has weathered the storm with determination, never succumbing to the heavy odds stacked against him.

Credit is also due to Ajmal’s mentor and ex-Pakistan spin wizard Saqlain Mushtaq — the inventor of the magical delivery ‘doosra’ — who thankfully never lost faith in Ajmal’s ability to make a comeback.

Saqlain convinced the Pakistan Cricket Board to allow him to work with Ajmal in the resurrection process and the move has surely paid off.

Subsequent to his clearance by the ICC, there is now a vociferous campaign by his fans and a handful of former cricketers to quickly induct Ajmal into the Pakistan World Cup squad to salvage some of the dented pride after a string of defeats in warm-up games.

Read on: ‘Team management refuses to include Ajmal for World Cup’

No doubt, Pakistan would want a match-winner like Ajmal to spearhead its bowling attack in the mega event. However, Ajmal himself has said that he is a bit rusty and is keen to play matches in the domestic circuit to test his remodelled action before resuming his international career.

This is a sensible, unselfish approach by a player whose focus is on skills, not glory.