Junaid Khan Reacts After Missing Out on Pakistan World Cup Berth

There was heartbreak for Junaid Khan as he missed out on making it onto the final squad for Pakistan. the 29-year old was part of Pakistan’s provisional lineup for the ICC Cricket  World Cup 2019. He had initially got the nod ahead of the likes of Mohammad Amir and a ticket to England was on the cards.

However, to his disappointment, the selectors elected to drop Junaid Khan and teammate Abid Ali. Instead, Asif Ali and Mohammad Amir will take over their respective slots.

Naturally, Junaid Khan was upset and took to Twitter to vent his frustration at the decision. Interestingly, he posted a picture of himself standing with tape on his mouth and the caption read, “I dont want to say anything. Truth is bitter. (Sach karwa hotha hai).”

Another casualty of the England tour axe was Wahab Riaz, however, after getting destroyed, the selectors reconsidered. Riaz last played an ODI for Pakistan in the opening match of the 2017 Champions Trophy against India. Unfortunately for him on that day the Indian team humbled him for 87 runs without a wicket. In that match, injury was added to the insult as well.

According to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mohammad Amir is fully fit after a bout of chickenpox. Now, it seems that he and Wahab will be available for warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Funnily enough, the tape face gesture by Junaid Khan largely resembled a similar incident involving West Indian allrounder, Kieron Pollard. After a bit of a spat during the IPL, a couple of years ago, Pollard taped his mouth shut, only removing it to talk to his team.

While many saw the funny side of the incident, once person, who was not amused was Chris Gayle. As it turned out, the then Royal Challengers Bangalore player was on the receiving end of the spat with Pollard.