Pak pacer Junaid Khan says he's been clocked hitting 140-142 kph speed

Colombo, Mar 17(ANI): Pakistan's World Cup surprise selection Junaid Khan, who has been a regular fixture in the domestic circuit for the last four years, has said that he has been clocked bowling in the range of 140 to 142 kilometres per hour.

Junaid has still not got a game in the ongoing World Cup, but he took 3 wickets for 44 runs against England during one of the warm-up matches.

"I'm a line and length bowler, I believe that if you try to be accurate and you bowl a tight line the wickets will follow," Cricistan.com quoted Junaid, as saying in an exclusive interview.

When asked whether that meant he was a Mohammad Asif-type bowler, he replied: "No, not like Asif. I would say I'm more like Umar Gul. When you see me bowl you will see what I mean."

On being asked about his bowling speed, Junaid said: "I don't know exactly what my pace is but I've been clocked in the 140 to 142 kph range, so I'd say that's the sort of speeds I will hit."

The left-arm fast bowler, who had never played international cricket before being picked to replace Sohail Tanvir in Pakistan's World Cup squad, said he was over the moon when he heard about the call-up.

"I was at the stadium and my mobile phone wasn't with me, the PCB had been calling me to inform me of my call-up but I missed their calls. Because of that I learnt of the call-up via the news, I couldn't believe it at first. In fact I'm not sure it's sunk in yet. It was only after I collected my phone on the way home that I saw the missed calls from the PCB, that's when it began to feel real," he said.

Despite his lack of experience in international cricket, the young pacer expressed his confidence that he would not be nervous while playing in a stadium crammed with tens of thousands of hostile fans.

"Although this will be the first time that I'm playing for Pakistan. I have previously played for Pakistan A and Pakistan u19," Junaid said. "It may not be the same thing but it's still representing your country and I'm confident that nerves wont play any part in my debut." (ANI)