Pakistan optimistic about Junaid’s recovery ahead of India clash

KARACHI: Pakistan’s cricket authorities are “cautiously optimistic” that key pacer Junaid Khan will regain match fitness ahead of the crunch World Cup clash against old rivals India in Adelaide on February 15.
Well-placed sources told ‘The News’ on Monday that Junaid, who is nursing a thigh injury, is making slow but steady recovery and should return to training soon.
Though Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials are hopeful that the left-armer will regain full fitness within the next couple of weeks, they will only get to know the exact extent of Junaid’s recovery when a medical report will be ready by the end of this week.
“It will be around the weekend that the PCB will get to know for sure whether Junaid will be ready to play in the World Cup,” a source said. “The bowler himself is quite confident that he would be fully fit but the problem with his injury is that it’s a nerve problem and you cannot be sure unless you have the results of various tests,” he added.
However, after receiving an initial input from Junaid and the medical staff treating him, PCB officials are expecting that the fast bowler has a substantial chance of getting fit ahead of Pakistan’s World Cup opener against India.
“PCB officials are cautiously optimistic about the chances of Junaid recovering ahead of the World Cup match against India,” the source said.
Junaid is part of Pakistan’s final 15-man squad but he was conditionally replaced by all-rounder Bilawal Bhatti for the ongoing pre-World Cup tour of New Zealand because of a thigh injury he sustained during training in Lahore.
Bhatti would play for Pakistan in the two One-day Internationals against New Zealand on January 31 and February 3.
Junaid was injured in a fall during training last week, complaining of pain in his right thigh and elbow.
“On re-examining Junaid’s condition, Pakistan’s physiotherapist Brad Robinson and PCB’s head of medical and sports sciences Sohail Saleem concurred that he had not recovered sufficiently from the traction injury of the nerve in the posterior right thigh and recommended recuperation at the NCA,” the PCB said about Junaid’s injury.
Chief selector Moin Khan, however, said Junaid would rejoin the World Cup squad if he recovered on time.