Khan continuously ripped through the Indian batting line-up throughout the series

Pakistan pace bowler Junaid Khan has admitted that the inswinger tips he received from the legendary Wasim Akram has helped him tremendously and added a new weapon to his arsenal.

Having taken eight wickets against India during their recently concluded ODI series, which Pakistan ended up winning 2-1, Khan was without doubt the best of the best amongst all of the other pace bowlers.

“I have been a bowler who has relied on bowling outswingers consistently at a good pace,” Khan told PTI. “It was Wasim bhai (Akram) who told me to develop the incoming delivery which would be my weapon against the Indian right-handers.”

India batsman Virat Kohli had no answer to Khan as he was dismissed by him in all three ODI matches.

“It’s very natural for left-arm fast bowlers to slant it across the right-handers,” Junaid said. “Once a guy like Virender Sehwag gauges the length of the away-going deliveries, you can be murdered. When I did my homework, I found out that Sehwag has a problem with the ball that comes in. I then started working hard on that incoming delivery with our chief bowling coach Mohammed Akram.”

This is not the first time Khan has credited Akram, as in June last year, after taking 5 for 73 in a Test match against Sri Lanka, Khan noted that Akram’s 1992 World Cup spell had inspired him and he even admitted to watching the footage on YouTube before the match.

In his short time with Pakistan, Khan has already gained a reputation of being one of the fastest bowlers to represent the country, but the speedy pacer noted that swing was much more important to him than raw pace.

“I don’t want to compromise on pace but swing is the most important aspect of my bowling,” he said. “One might get adjusted to pace but if one has the ability to move the ball consistently at a decent pace, he can create trouble in batsmen’s mind.”

Khan added that Pakistan were able to beat arch-rivals India since they played as an all-round unit.

“I was never under any kind of pressure to perform,” Khan said. “I also got a lot of back-up from the other end as Mohammed Irfan and Umar Gul also bowled superbly. It was certainly a collective effort.”