Pakistan bowlers are likely to struggle in England: Junaid Khan

Pacer Junaid Khan feels that the Pakistan pacers will have a tough time while bowling in England due to the ban on the use of saliva. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned the usage of saliva to shine the cricket ball. This is one of the many rules laid by ICC in the view of the coronavirus pandemic.

All the guidelines laid by ICC would be implemented from the West Indies tour of England which will mark the return of cricket after a span of four months. The Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to play a three-match Test series and ODI series against England in the month of August and September.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Junaid told that Pakistan would be most affected by the ban of saliva as their pacers rely heavily on the reverse swing with the old ball to take wickets.

“Both sides will have difficulty if there is no reverse swing on offer due to the saliva ban. However, our bowlers are likely to struggle more. Anderson bowls well with the new ball and his reverse swing is not that good. Similarly, Broad and Archer’s reverse swing is not as effective as our bowlers,” said Junaid.

“Even though Abbas bowls at 125 KPH, he has done well with reverse swing in Asia. Shaheen’s reverse swing may not be as good as Abbas, but it is still alright. The four Test matches that Naseem has played, he has taken most wickets with reverse swing. Our pacers, particularly the likes of Shaheen, Naseem and Musa will have a difficult time as they do not have the experience of playing in England and are not used to the conditions there,” he added.

I am more experienced than the bowlers selected, says Junaid Khan

Junaid made his international debut for Pakistan in 2011. He has represented Pakistan in 22 Tests taking 71 scalps at an economy of 2.93. Talking about limited-overs cricket, he has played 76 ODI matches and 9 T20 matches taking 110 and 8 wickets respectively. Despite having a decent bowling record the left-arm pacer was not selected for the Pakistan tour of England.

The 30-year-old is disappointed with the selection committee and believes that he’s a lot more experienced and talented than many bowlers selected for the tour. He also accused the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of not backing him the way they backed his fellow cricketer Mohammad Amir.

“I was disappointed when my name wasn’t in the 29-member squad announced for the England tour. I am more experienced than the bowlers selected for the tour and want to play Test cricket. Apart from Abbas, no other bowler in the current Test squad has a better bowling strike rate or average than me,” said Junaid

“I am not jealous of Amir. It is his luck that he got support from the team management despite not performing in 14 or 15 ODIs. Whereas I did not have the same luck, as I was dropped after not performing in only two games,” he added.