LAHORE - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was forced to include Junaid Khan to the squad for a five-match one-day series in Australia, after M Irfan returned home because his mother died.
The 27-year-old Junaid was not named in the initial squad of 15 announced on December 30. "Following Irfan's return to Pakistan due to his mother's death, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, after consulting the team management, named fast bowler Junaid as Irfan's replacement," said a release issued by the PCB. This is the second addition to the one-day squad after spinning all-rounder M Hafeez was added as the 16th member on Saturday.
Irfan, 34, has not played for Pakistan since September last year, when he picked up cramps in both legs five overs into an ODI against England in Headingley. He worked on his fitness thereafter, but was not picked for the home series against West Indies in the UAE or the away tour of New Zealand.
Having bowled more than 150 overs in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, Pakistan's premier first-class tournament, and helping his side Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to the title, Irfan won the approval of the selectors to play the five ODIs against Australia set to begin in Brisbane on Friday. Chief selector Inzamam said the 14 players were chosen ‘keeping in mind the conditions in Australia’ where his ability to generate extra bounce might have made him an asset.
Junaid has not played for Pakistan since May 2015. He has 78 wickets in 52 one-day internationals and recently took 20 wickets in 14 matches in the Bangladesh Premier League, a Twenty20 competition. He took six wickets in seven games in the recently-concluded Departmental One-Day Cup, before taking 4 for 31 for Peshawar in the Regional One-Day Cup on Sunday.
He joins Pakistan's four other fast bowlers, M Aamir, Wahab Riaz - both of whom buckled under heavy workloads in the 3-0 Test whitewash - Rahat Ali and Hasan Ali. The first of five one-day matches will be played in Brisbane on Friday followed by Melbourne (January 15), Perth (January 19), Sydney (January 22) and Adelaide (January 26).
