ICC saliva ban to affect Pak pacers more: Junaid Khan.

ISLAMABAD -- Left-arm pacer Junaid Khan believes the decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ban the usage of saliva to shine cricket balls, would affect the Pakistani fast-bowlers more, as they rely on reverse swing with the old ball to take wickets.

ICC has temporarily banned the fast-bowlers from applying saliva to shine the ball, which help them generate greater swing in the air. The ban would be implemented from the forthcoming three-match Test series between England and West Indies in the United Kingdom.

Junaid said that all fast-bowlers would generally take a hit from the ban but it will affect the Pakistani bowlers more, as they rely on reverse swing with the old (used) ball to take wickets.

'Both sides will have difficulty if there is no reverse swing on offer due to the saliva ban. However, our bowlers are likely to struggle more. Anderson bowls well with the new ball and his reverse swing is not that good. Similarly, Broad and Archer's reverse swing is not as effective as our bowlers,'cricketpakistan.com.pk quoted Junaid as saying.

'Even though Abbas bowls at 125 kph, he has done well with reverse swing in Asia. Shaheen's reverse swing may not be as good as Abbas, but it is still alright. The four Test matches that Naseem has played, he has taken most wickets with reverse swing.

Our pacers, particularly the likes of Shaheen, Naseem and Musa will have a difficult time as they do not have the experience of playing in England and are not used to the conditions there,' he added.

The 30-year-old was disappointed to miss out on the opportunity to...