Junaid stated that he is playing in a young team at Abbottabad and its a learning curve for them in a very tough competition. "I'm happy with my form and fitness and I took 8 wickets in the recently completed match against Sialkot.

by Saj Sadiq

31st October 2009

Junaid stated that he is playing in a young team at Abbottabad and its a learning curve for them in a very tough competition. "I'm happy with my form and fitness and I took 8 wickets in the recently completed match against Sialkot. We have come across some seaming wickets and the weather has been pretty cold on some days which has helped the ball move around, but our batsman have at times struggled. Also our fielding has not been great, with a lot of catches being dropped".

Junaid was part of the Academy squad that toured Zimbabwe and Kenya last year and he said that both Aaqib Javed and Mudassar Nazar have in recent times really helped him at the Academy in Lahore. "Both Muddy bhai and Aaqib have told me to concentrate on accuracy rather than pace. I am more of a seam bowler rather than relying on pace and thanks to God I have the ability to move the ball both ways. I was measured with the speed gun last year and clocked 142kph. I'm feeling a lot stronger this season, so it could be that I'm perhaps bowling a little quicker than that. I try to bowl wicket to wicket and to get close to the stumps when bowling".

Junaid told PakPassion that as a youngster his idol was Imran Khan and he would regularly watch videos of his bowling. Junaid also stated that he was spotted by former Pakistan bowler Ehteshamuddin at under 17 trials in Abbottabad. "I was 16 years old and I had been playing a lot of tape ball cricket and was measured as the fastest bowler in the NWFP Twenty/20 competition. Some of my team mates suggested that I should go for the Under 17 trials. I was in two minds but afterwards I was relieved that I attended the trials, as Ehteshamuddin spotted me and told me that I had potential and that I should go to Lahore for further trials and to work with some of the coaches at the Academy".

Junaid added "I've played some league cricket in the UK in the last couple of seasons and I've signed up to play in the Birmingham league which I am looking forward to".