England vs Pakistan: Ramiz Raja wants Junaid Khan to be preferred over Faheem Ashraf in the ODI series
Faheem has more often been preferred due to his all-round skills.
Pakistan have already reached England to face the home team in a five-match ODI series apart from the one-off T20I. This will be the perfect preparation for them ahead of the World Cup. Though there will be a lot of experimentation during the ODIs, the focus of both the teams will be on winning the series. Pakistan will be looking to fine-tune their playing XI ahead of the mega event which is why Ramiz Raja wants Junaid Khan to get more chances ahead of the all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.
Junaid has been very unlucky in terms of getting consistent chances recently. He isn’t the preferred pacer for his team. The likes of Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan and Hasan Ali have risen through the ranks which even led to the left-arm pacer being dropped from the team. But he came back into the side and did well in the limited opportunities.
As far as the squad for the England series is concerned, Amir is likely to get more opportunities with Hasan Ali and Shaheen as the other pacers. Sarfaraz Ahmed has more often than not played with a pace bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf who bats decently at eight as well. But Ramiz Raja is not convinced with this move.
Junaid has variations in pace
The former Pakistan cricketer believes that Junaid Khan brings variety to the attack, unlike Faheem who keeps on bowling the same length. He also went on to say that Junaid could turn out to be a lethal option against England. “Junaid has variation in pace while Faheem keeps on bowling at middle length [at] 138km/h to 142km/h which becomes easy for batsmen to hit hard. I think Junaid can be lethal for the green shirts against England,” Ramiz was quoting as saying by arysports.tv
The ODI series between England and Pakistan is set to commence on May 5 as both the teams will be looking to give their best to get the confidence ahead of the World Cup. The Men in Green will begin their campaign at the event on May 31 against the Windies in Nottingham.
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