Junaid Khan: “Imam started giving his personal opinions even during pressers [whether] Haris should play or not, likewise if Iftikhar should play or not. Neither he is captain nor a vice-captain – so how can he give opinions in the air like these?”
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Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm seamer, has slammed opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq for saying big-hitting batsmen Mohammad Haris and Iftikhar Ahmed should not be part of the ODI squad.
Imam based his opinion on the fact that Pakistan have invested in Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. He thus wants the selectors and team management to keep giving them opportunities instead of experimenting ahead of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India.
In Pakistan’s last ODI series, where they played five matches against New Zealand, Iftikhar did an incredibly good job as he smashed 122 runs in two games, which included a top score of 94 not out, at an average of 122 and a strike-rate of 129.78.
Haris, meanwhile, has been identified as one of the brightest prospects in Pakistan cricket and is likely to be given more chances to shine going forward.
Given the exciting potential both batsmen have, Junaid noted that Imam had no right to give “his personal opinions” as he doesn’t captain Pakistan and isn’t the vice-captain either.
“Imam started giving his personal opinions even during pressers [whether] Haris should play or not, likewise if Iftikhar should play or not. Neither he is captain nor a vice-captain – so how can he give opinions in the air like these?” the 33-year-old was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Imam recently played in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, where he made 57 runs, which included a top score of 50 not out, at an average of 28.50.
Pakistan ended up winning the series 2-0.