Colombo, July 16: With the Pakistan team facing criticism from all quarters after their defeat in the second Test against Sri Lanka, skipper Younis Khan said he could hardly do anything if the veteran batsmen in the team were not performing well.
Pakistan on Tuesday crashed to a second successive Test defeat on their tour of Sri Lanka, after the hosts won the second Test of the three-match series to take an unassaialabe 2-0 lead.
With this defeat, Pakistan has also lost a Test series in Sri Lanka for the first time in history.
Younis said as the skipper he has inherited a team with players like former skipper Shoaib Malik, current vice-captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Salman Butt.
He further pointed out that if these players are not able to contribute to the team’s cause then it’s up to the country’s cricket authorities to decide whether they should be allowed to continue or not.
”I just inherited these players,” he said. ”I mean what can I do if players like Shoaib Malik and Misbah are failing regularly. If I just throw them out of the team, the whole of Pakistan will start talking that I’ve got rid of them. It is up to the authorities to decide what should be done about it,” Younis told ‘Geo News’.
Senior players like Malik, Misbah and Kamran Akmal were among the biggest flops during the current series, which raised questions over their commitment towards the team. Accusations were also levelled by some former Test cricketers, who felt that the senior players are intentionally under-performing in a bid to bring about Younis’ downfall.
The captain, however, said if any member of his team was not doing well then he will only harm his own cause and no one else.
”Take for example the case of Shoaib Malik. If he doesn’t perform in two or three more matches, he will have to go out,” the 33-year-old said.
The right-handed batsman further asserted that ever since he took up captaincy in February this year, he has been trying to pump in new blood in the team. But he clearly stated that dropping too many senior players too quickly will prove to be counter-productive.
”After the 2003 World Cup, the Board decided to drop almost all the senior players and that turned out to be a bad move,” the skipper said, referring to the changes made in the Pakistan team after its first-round exit from the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
”Similarly if we drop all the senior players, it would be hard to find good replacements right away.”
—–Agencies