Junaid was dropped from the two-match ODI series against New Zealand so that he could recover from his knee injury but he was not able to recover well in time.
Meanwhile, Bilawal Bhatti was called in to replace him who was given a bad beating by the Kiwis in the second ODI where he went for 93 runs resulting him being struck out of a probable choice to replace Junaid.
However, Rahat was the part of the pace attack which whitewashed Australia in the two-match Test series in 2014.
The left-armer from Multan has played only one ODI for the Pakistan team where he went for 34 runs without a wicket but he boasts 31 wickets in 11 Test outings for the men in green.
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COMMENTS (10)
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After the fiasco of last four matches, change was needed. I am all in favor of young bowlers being inducted, but Adil and have disappointed. Good luck youngman. Just wonder why not have more spinners ? Why not replace Younus?
Atleast better than Bilawal, now questions is whether he gets a chance in playing 11 or not. I think Irfan, Sohail Khan, Afridi, Rahat and Yasir should play most matches as 5 bowlers. They should admit there is no allrounder in team so stop using shahzad and haris sohail as 5th bowlers, they are better 6,7th bowlers
Rahat Ali selection is totally wrong, he has never played a test match in Australia and what PCB is doing? test match and one day is different game, a player who performs in test not necessarily will perform in ODIs. look at eshan adil's performance, very pathetic and still he is a part of team, i wish gul and tanveer to be a part of this team. batting department is ok but our bowlers have not been up to mark against newzealnd, i think there is a lobby prevailing in team.
Really Realy Amazing News and Its A Great Pleasuer
ICC has given a deadline till 7th Feb. for cricket boards to hand in the names for replacement players for 15 member squads of the respective teams. The report of Ajmal's tests would not be handed over to the PCB until the end of next week by which time this deadline would have already lapsed. Hence even if Ajmal gets an all clear, he would still not be eligible for selection.
@Usama: its not possible unless Ehsan Adil is unfit.
@Usama: If you are correct, than its indeed a good news. If Ajmal and Hafeez can bowl again for Pakistan, our bowling will be twice as strong as today.
WC is less than 2 weeks and we're still fumbling with team selection on random basis. There's no true selection criteria, everything's beind done on ad hoc basis. This is while we've an army of management sitting on top including managers, selection committee, head coach, bowling coach, fielding coach, coaching coach. No one knows the final team selection.
A very wise selection under the circumstance.
I heard ajmal's report is expected today and as per findings, all his deliveries excluding doosra would be allowed. Also he has worked on carom ball and that gonna clear as well.. Now PCB, replace Ehsan Adil with Ajmal so that atleast our bowling dont seem mediocre or club level