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I just got into bad books of selectors: Junaid Khan slams Pakistan’s biased selection policy

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Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan, once touted as the next big thing in Word cricket as far as left-arm pace bowling was concerned, has found it very difficult to keep his place in the side. In a recent interview, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa born said that it has been due to him falling on the wrong side of favouritism practised in Pakistan cricket. 

Accusing the captains and coaches of favouritism, Junaid said, "It is like if you are on good terms with the captain and team management then you will probably get a proper run in all formats to prove your worth.”

"If you don't have close relations with them then you are in and out,” he told Cricket Pakistan.com 

Saying that he was once not even given proper rest when he demanded, there came a time when he wasn’t picked up even after performing well in domestic cricket, just because he fell out of the place from the good books.  

"I am regularly playing domestic cricket and I believe if the selection is done justly I should be in consideration," said the Swabi man. 

The fact that both Junaid and his cousin Yasur shah come from far off town Swabi, the 31-year-old feels that they don’t have the lobbying or the media pressure behind them. 

"If you belong to a big city, then people raise their voice for you. People like me and Yasir Shah are from Swabi. There is no TV channel or media person from Swabi, so there is no pressure on selectors regarding our selection from the media," he said.

Once a Lancashire representative, Junaid still harbours hopes of representing the men in green and hence is rejecting good league offers. 

"I am being offered more money than what I earned while playing for Pakistan during my peak. However, I refused the offer as I still want to represent Pakistan," said the left-arm pacer, who has 189 international wickets to his credit in 22 Tests, 76 ODIs and 8 T20Is. 

The pacer further went on to compare the work management done by the Pakistan board for their pacers to that done by England. Junaid said that Pakistan always forgets its senior players in search of new talent. 

"We should learn about managing workload from England. During their recent Test series against India, they rotated James Anderson and Stuart Broad,” he said. 

"Broad and Anderson would rest even after taking five or six wickets in the previous match. That is because they are secure of their place in the team. They know they will play in the future matches," the fast bowler added.

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