'Gagged' Junaid Khan shares cryptic photo after being axed from World Cup squad

Published May 20, 2019
Junaid Khan was axed from the World Cup squad today after two uninspired performances in a series where almost every bowler failed. — Photo courtesy: Junaid Khan/Twitter
Junaid Khan was axed from the World Cup squad today after two uninspired performances in a series where almost every bowler failed. — Photo courtesy: Junaid Khan/Twitter

After he was axed from the World Cup 2019 squad, fast bowler Junaid Khan on Monday shared a cryptic photo of himself with his mouth sealed shut with black tape.

Junaid, Abid Ali and Faheem Ashraf formed the trio that lost their spots on the 15-man roster when Chief Selector Inzamamul Haq announced the final squad today for the big tournament.

They were replaced by pacers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz — the former who has two wickets in his last 10 ODIs and the latter who has not played an ODI in two years and whom coach Mickey Arthur had famously discarded "for not winning the team any matches in years".

Junaid did not impress in his two outings against England either, leaking runs at a high rate in both but he appears to have reservations over his ouster in favour of a duo that itself has question marks all over it.

"I don't want to say anything. Truth is bitter," he tweeted along with the photo.

PCB takes notice; Junaid deletes tweet

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took notice of the tweet but decided not to take any "immediate action" against Junaid as it did not want to stir up a controversy so close to the World Cup, well-informed sources within the board told DawnNewsTV.

The PCB source said that while the players are free to use social media, the guidelines provided to them bind them to not tweets "things that are against the spirit of the game".

Junaid later deleted the tweet.

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