Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has ruled himself out of next year's World Cup as he needs more time to remodel his bowling action.

The 37-year-old was suspended from bowling in international matches by the International Cricket Council [ICC] in September after his action was found to be outside of the 15 degrees level of tolerance allowed.

The Pakistan Cricket Board [PCB] had asked the ICC to reassess Ajmal's action in recent weeks, but have now elected to delay after further tests showed more remodelling work is required.

"Ajmal withdrew himself," PCB chairman Chairman Shaharyar Khan told reporters.

"We didn't want to take a risk with Ajmal's career because latest reports suggested his elbow extension was not still within the 15 degrees allowed by the ICC despite all the remedial work on his action.

"We were aware that if he took the official ICC test in a bid to make the World Cup squad and failed it he could be suspended from playing for one to two years and that would mean the end of his career."

The World Cup will take place in New Zealand and Australia and is due to get under way on February 14.