Junaid Khan’s brilliant bowling has made him the major recipient of tributes and commendations for the ODI series-win against India. PHOTO: BCCI
The admirable performance of pacers Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan has been termed the biggest positive of the India tour by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief selector Iqbal Qasim, who believes the pair has the makings of world-class fast-bowlers.
Junaid and Irfan entered the international fray at a time when Pakistan was experiencing a dearth of fast-bowlers after the exit of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.
Qasim said the young pacers’ feats in India are a testament to their potential of bringing laurels to the team.
“Junaid and Irfan have all the ingredients to become a formidable pace attack,” Qasim told The Express Tribune while commenting on Pakistan’s historic One-Day International (ODI) series victory over India.
“Junaid has been outstanding and is improving continuously. He’s young and if given chances, he’ll become better.”
The chief selector was also pleased with the towering Irfan and said he could improve further if he steered clear of fitness problems. Qasim urged the team to avoid complacency after their win and work to overcome their weak areas.
“The overall performance was satisfactory. But we should not get carried away with the win and forget our weaknesses. There is still plenty of room for improvement in every department. For instance, the fact that we failed to play the full 50 overs should be alarming for us.”
Former cricket greats commend team’s performance
Meanwhile, former Test opener and coach Mohsin Khan said the team played as a unit and performed better than their competitors.
“It was purely a team effort,” said Mohsin. “We are showing improvement in all departments. Our fielding has also started showing improvement.”
Former captain Moin Khan praised Mohammad Hafeez’s all-round show and termed him a reliable asset.
“Hafeez proved to be an outstanding all-rounder on this tour,” said Moin. “He has now become an integral part of the team. Our opening stands were impressive and our bowlers also gave a spirited challenge to the opposition.”
Another former captain Rashid Latif said the players proved their mental strength by overcoming India at their home soil.
“It is a big achievement to play against India in big venues like Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. There is immense pressure of performing in the presence of such a large crowd. Only players who keep their nerves can perform at such grounds. Our players completely outclassed the home team.”
The former wicket-keeper credited Nasir Jamshed, Junaid and Umar Gul for the victory at the Eden Gardens.
Iqbal Qasim
“The overall performance was satisfactory. But we should not get carried away with the win and forget our weaknesses. There is still plenty of room for improvement in every department”.
Rashid Latif
“It is a big achievement to play against India in big venues like Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. There is immense pressure of performing in the presence of such a large crowd”.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2013.
COMMENTS (5)
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"Junaid, Irfan a great find". Well , they are not a find . They played for Pakistan before. I hope now selectors keep their confidence in them.
@Sufi:
I think performance rather than age should be the deciding factor (Imran Khan was 40 when Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992). Misbah is a sensible, solid batsman and knows how to call the shots and keep a team together, he's done a fine job so far as a captain. If a batsman doesn't go "4s, 6s or none" (cough, Afridi, cough) unfortunately the impulsive Pakistani public tend to look down at them - this isn't what cricket is about, it's about strategy and consistency.
Also, there have been tons of great domestic players (48 isn't an outstanding average) who failed spectacularly at international cricket - there's a huge difference between the two.
@Sufi: A typical Afridi troll-ish comment .
Misbah has been the most successful captain of Pakistan ( he had a much better test winning record than any captain).
Yet , the irrationality of your comment in the middle of the series is baffling . His captaincy has just won us a series .
Afridi is someone who cannot manage his own innings - yet , he has an irrational fan following . Afridi , based on his 'hit or miss' batting , would not last in any national team for more than a day , yet his trolls are ever ready to thrust him upon us.
Let's be sensible.
Kudos to the selectors on choosing a winning combination and giving new players a chance to prove themselves! Great job Iqbal Qasim and the selection committee!
Misbah should retire with grace as age demands. Haris Sohail and Usman Salahuddin should be brought in to further bolster our middle order. Both these newbies have an average in excess of 48 at the domestic circuit.