Muhammad Junaid Khan, the one and only player to
qualify from Swabi District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, built up his
impressive domestic career in Abbottabad where he was in the teams of
Abbottabad Rhinos, Pakistan Under-19s, Abbottabad Falcons.Junaid has not only
won the hearts of many cricket fans but has also sparkled Abbottabad and elated
the hopes of its people. He played his first debut on 24 January 2007 at the
age of 17.Being a chief strike bowler of his domestic team of Abbottabad he
played against Multan, represented Khan Research Laboratory’s cricket team and
played In the final of the Quaid e Azam trophy, he also played for Pakistan A against SriLank A and gradually became the team’s leading
wicket taker. His inclusion in the team, thereby making the team lucky, took
place when Sohail Tanvir got injured in the 2011 World Cup.
Holding the reflection of Wasim Akram’s bowling
style and influenced greatly by our legend Imran Khan, Junaid Khan has made his
way in Pakistan cricket team. In his own words, he speaks of himself as a line
and length bowler and strongly believes that accurately bowling will grab
maximum wickets in a match and is a left arm fast medium bowler whose entrance
in Pakistan team has spread jubilant cheers among the Pakistanis.
His performance against India in the recent ODIs
made the matches so scintillating and exceptional that the senior players like
Wasim Akram, Younus Khan lauded him proudly. Wasim Akram also believes that the
play of Khan is just like what he played in the past. Hmhm, it’s a wonderful
comment at such a stage for the fast bowler. The veteran, Younus Khan speaks of
Junaid as just like Wasim Akram who rattled India’s top order in the first ODI
in Chennai which Pakistan won by 6 wickets. According to him, the best thing
about Khan is his consistent performance and this is what the Pakistan team
requires at this crucial time. It’s a good sign for him and the team as well
and as Younus Khan says that if he continues playing like this, our team would
be awarded with another Wasim Akram, keen to drive the team to the path of
glory.
His arrival in the team has inculcated a gem of
positivity, when the team was in a dire need of some backing after the
exclusion of Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. Eventually, these are our days to
see our team winning by the endeavours of great bowlers. Today each and every
Pakistani hopes and prays for Junaid Khan to give marvellous performance in
every match and make us proud.
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