LAHORE: Injury-prone left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan is likely to appear in a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy here on Sunday, well-informed sources told Dawn.

The test report will determine whether or not the pacer will be able to join the Pakistan World Cup squad in Australia.

Reliable sources said the chances of Junaid overcoming the hamstring problem were 50-50. Junaid pulled his hamstring during the training camp set for World Cup preparation in Lahore early last month and though he was retained in the Pakistan squad, he was forced to withdraw from the touring party at the eleventh hour on Jan 20 due to recurrence of the hamstring problem.

The PCB later announced that all-rounder Bilawal Bhatti will replace injured Junaid, though just for four matches (the two practice games and two ODIs against NZ).

As things stand today, in case Junaid fails to pass the fitness test, Bhatti will remain with the Pakistan squad for the ICC World Cup in Australia-New Zealand.

Junaid’s fitness can be key here, especially in view of the ordinary performance put in so far by the Pakistan pacers in New Zealand who failed to restrict a buoyant Kiwi side in the first ODI played at Wellington on Saturday.

Meanwhile, reports filtering in from New Zealand said fast bowlers Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan are also facing minor fitness problem at this juncture but may recover soon to feature in the warm-up games ahead.

Published in Dawn February 1st, 2015

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