Junaid handed NZ spot

Uncapped fast-bowler Junaid Khan trplaces Sohail Tanvir in test squad for New Zealand.

LAHORE: The Pakistan selection committee has called up uncapped fast-bowler Junaid Khan to replace the unfit left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir in the Test squad to take on New Zealand.

The 20-year-old made his first-class debut for Abbottabad in January 2007 and picked up 29 wickets in his first six matches at an impressive average of 18.79. He completed a match-haul of 13 for 77 against Peshawar in November 2007, and scored 71 against Rawalpindi.

Khan’s inclusion comes on the back of an impressive all-round show on Pakistan-A’s recently-concluded tour of West Indies.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided against sending a security official with the squad in order to cut the extra traveling cost and has opted to stick with the eight-man team management for the tour.

“It’s up to the member boards if they want to travel with a security officer or not,” said a PCB official. “It is, however, mandatory to have an in-house security manager.”

Khwaja Najam travelled with the team in Pakistan’s recent assignments away from home starting with the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies. However, the spot-fixing allegations on the tour of England during the summer and wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider’s abrupt departure to London forced the board to reconsider.

Pakistan will depart for New Zealand tomorrow evening.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2010.