Islamabad, June 26 : Former Pakistan off spinner Tauseef Ahmed has slammed a decision to play out of form Junaid Khan over Aizaz Cheema during their humiliating 209-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle.

Ahmed who represented Pakistan on 104 occasions expressed his displeasure at the way in which the Pakistani batsmen surrendered to a relatively inexperienced bowling attack from Sri Lanka.

Pakistan again relied heavily on Saeed Ajmal, who bowled with a lot of heart but received little support from others.

"For Pakistan it is important that they have a pace attack that can trouble the batsmen," PakPassion. net quoted Ahmed, as saying.

But, Tauseef's main criticism was reserved for the young left arm pacer, Junaid Khan.

"Junaid to me didn''t appear in any sort of form. I think he may have made some changes to his bowling but clearly something was not right."

Junaid Khan was picked ahead of Cheema who played in the last test win against England, and Ahmed felt it was the wrong decision.

"At a time like this I think Cheema would have been a better option," Ahmed said.

Past Pakistani squads have been notorious for their fiery pace attack, yet Ahmed was unimpressed by the quality of pace bowling on show for Pakistan at Galle.

"I think our bowlers were bowling in the 130 range while the Sri Lankans had some bowlers cross the 140+ mark. Plus on top of that, they [Sri Lanka] bowled on the stumps which makes life difficult for any batsman," Ahmed said.

"Whichever bowler plays for Pakistan, it is important that they keep their line on the stumps. All in all, on these conditions I think Cheema would have been better option," he said. (ANI)