The North West Frontier Province is currently proudly represented in international colours by Umar Gul, but come the "home" series in the UAE against South Africa, a fellow NWFP bowler could well be lining up alongside Umar Gul.

 by Saj Sadiq

 2 October 2010

 

 

 

The North West Frontier Province is currently proudly represented in international colours by Umar Gul, but come the "home" series in the UAE against South Africa, a fellow NWFP bowler could well be lining up alongside Umar Gul.

20 year old left arm medium fast bowler Junaid Khan has an eye catching domestic record and with the uncertainty surrounding the participation of Mohammad Amir in the UAE and Mohammad Asif unavailable, Junaid could well find himself given an opportunity against the powerful South Africans later this month.

157 wickets in 31 matches for Abbottabad at an average of 21.01 are indeed impressive statistics, but the impressive record isn't just for domestic cricket. Junaid has also impressed for the Pakistan "A" side, having toured Kenya a couple of years ago and more recently he was a key member of the Pakistan "A" side that took part in a one day tri series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, and that also played 2 unofficial test matches against their Sri Lankan counterparts.

Khan was the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the 2 unofficial tests in Sri Lanka where he took 10 wickets, including a 4for in the Sri Lankan first innings of the second Test as Sri Lanka "A" were skittled out for 94. In addition Khan also took 4 wickets in 3 matches of the one day tri-series.

Speaking to PakPassion.net ; Junaid spoke of his personal satisfaction on the "A" tour of Sri Lanka against a good standard of opposition and his hopes for bowling alongside Umar Gul for Pakistan.

"It was a valuable experience for me and my team mates in Sri Lanka. We were up against some very good and experienced cricketers, for example Farveez Maharoof who has represented Sri Lanka on more than 100 occasions. Playing against such experienced cricketers is an education for young cricketers like myself."

Khan will be representing the Abbottabad Rhinos in the forthcoming Twenty20 competition in a season that he hopes will result in his international bow.

"My domestic record is good and I've performed to the best of my ability for the Pakistan "A" side, so I hope that the next challenge will be to play for the Pakistan senior side. The upcoming series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates is one that I am definitely targeting and I hope that the selectors give me a chance to test myself against the South Africans. It would be fantastic to lineup alongside my fellow native of North West Frontier Province, Umar Gul."

Khan though feels he has time on his side and that if he does miss out on senior selection, then the Pakistan "A" tour of the West Indies scheduled for later this month will be another opportunity to develop his talent.

"Of course if I miss out on selection for the South Africa series, then I hope that I am picked for the tour of the Caribbean where I will continue to work with the coaches to improve my cricket. I have predominantly been a swing bowler throughout my career with the ability to move the ball both ways, but I feel I am bowling a yard quicker these days and am working further to gain even more pace, without losing the accuracy. In addition, I wasn't much of a batsman when I started playing first class cricket, but nowadays I can hold my own with the bat and am certainly not a rabbit with the bat. I played league cricket in England this summer in Staffordshire and I picked up 61 wickets in 11 matches."

Pakistan will play 2 T20s, 5 One Day Internationals and 2 Test matches against South Africa, with the series starting on 26th October at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.