Lahore, January 02: Hinting that Younis Khan could play in the third Test against Australia, chief selector Iqbal Qasim said the senior batsman was still ignorned to fly Down Under as Pakistan wanted him to be fully prepared before joining the national side.
Qasim revealed that Younis would be definitely going to Australia at some point during the ongoing Test series, adding that the PCB and selectors still didn’t consider team management’s request to send the former skipper to bolster the side’s middle-order because they wanted him to play without pressure.
”The reason behind not sending him (Younis) at this stage would not have served any purpose. Firstly, he would not have arrived for the second Test in Sydney (starting on Sunday) on time and more importantly for Younis’ own good.
”We want him to fly out adequately prepared (for the third Test in Hobart) so that he is able to play without feeling the pressure,” the former Test spinner told ‘The Dawn’.
He further asserted that a player of Younis’ stature would obviously strengthen the Pakistan side.
”Obviously, Younis needs no introduction; he’s not just a classy batsman who is good enough to walk into the playing XI but also one of the best slip fielders in the world. ”But all of us want to make sure that Younis heads to Australia in an ‘appropriate’ frame of mind with a fair bit of competitive cricket behind him. When I spoke to him some 10 days go, he sounded positive and indicated that his sense of enjoyment has returned and that he wanted to play again for Pakistan,” Qasim said.
Younis would be seen in action for Habib Bank in the RBS Pentangular Cup at the NBP Sports Complex starting today in Karachi, and the 31-year-old is hoping to come up with some scintillating knocks in the event to resume his international career.
Younis, therefore, has just one fixture to get himself back in the batting form to catch the eye of the selectors followig the ace Test batsman’s twin failures (7 and 4) in the recently held Quaid-i-Azam Trophy final against eventual champions Karachi Blues.
——Agencies