Junaid Khan had proved to be a nightmare for a young Virat Kohli during Pakistan’s limited-overs tour of India in 2012, so much so that the fast bowler couldn’t get what the fuss about the future world No.1 batsman was.
Junaid Khan got rid of Virat Kohli on all three occasions in the ODI series which Pakistan won 2-1 during the last bilateral cricket series between the arch-rivals which was hosted by India.
Kohli managed just 13 runs in the series, with scores of 0 (Chennai), 6 (Kolkata) and 7 (Delhi). Junaid got the better of him on all three occasions, allowing Kohli to score just 3 runs off the 24 that he bowled to him.
Junaid looked back at how he bowled to Kohli in the series, in which he finished as the joint-highest wicket taker with Saeed Ajmal.
“The first ball I bowled to him was a wide but the next ball when I beat him, I thought ‘well, he’s just a normal batsman’.
“Virat jokingly told me ahead of the series that these are Indian pitches and that balls won’t move much here. I said ‘we’ll see, because I have plenty of momentum with me as well,” Junaid said on the Cricingif show on YouTube.
“Before that tour, I was playing domestic cricket in Faisalabad. I had bowled around 35-40 overs in each match so I had developed momentum heading into the series.
“I was making a comeback in the ODIs and when we were heading to India, I knew in my mind that this is my only chance to stage a strong comeback into the team. Secondly, I knew if I would perform well in India, I would need to take wickets,” Junaid said.
“No doubt Kohli is the best batsman in all three formats. If you ask anyone, they’d say that guys like Babar Azam, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith are the best batsmen of the generation, but the best of the lot is Kohli because he’s performed outstandingly in all three formats,” Junaid said.
