Returned to serve the country: Younus Khan

               
Younus Khan on Thursday said that he has returned to the national side because he wanted to serve the country with his potential.
Speaking to the media at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, he said he had opted to stay away from the team, but then realised that it needed his services.
He said that one has to let go of their ego and not dwell in the past adding that he was fit and ready to perform.
Meanwhile, Pakistan cricket team coach Waqar Younis welcomed the reinstatement of Younus Khan in the team.
Waqar said that the team needed the expertise of senior players in the upcoming tour against South Africa.
He was also hopeful that Muhammad Yousuf would be available for the Test series. He added that the team is being trained for a tough tour and is hopeful the results will be positive.

Afridi wanted Shoaib Malik, not Younis Khan

Pakistan's cricket selectors ignored suggestions from the national team's captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis by recalling former captain Younis Khan for the one-day International series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates.
The captain and coach wanted all-rounder Shoaib Malik in the team as a replacement for injured Mohammad Yousuf, but the selectors instead picked up Younis Khan on Wednesday.
Yousuf was ruled out of the limited-overs series against South Africa after he ruptured a muscle in his right leg.
A report in The News said Thursday that Afridi and Waqar had instead asked for the inclusion of discarded all-rounder Shoaib Malik in the squad for the two Twenty20 and five One-day Internationals against South Africa to be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
" Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the national selectors did not agree with the suggestions coming from the captain and the coach, and opted to go for Younis Khan's inclusion in the team," the report said.
Interestingly, Younis, who is a Test specialist, will now have to prove his form and fitness in one-day games to be considered for next month's two-Test series against the Proteas.
According to Mohsin Khan, Pakistan's chief selector, Younis Khan has only been selected for the one-day series (he has already retired from Twenty20 internationals) and might play in the Tests if he proves his form before the series.
The report said that Afridi and Waqar were of the view that Malik could have been useful for Pakistan in the Twenty20 and one-day games because of his utility as an all-rounder.
However, the PCB decided against recalling Malik in the national team and have given him the command of a team that will represent the country in Hong Kong Sixes tournament to be played next month.

Former Pak cricketers welcome Younis' return

Pakistan's former captain Zaheer Abbas has no doubt that the recalled batsman Younis Khan will

 score lot of runs for the national team and soon become a sign of good luck for the side.
Zaheer, known as the Asian Bradman for his prolific run making ability, said that former p...layers includ...ing himself had been saying all along that Younis should be in the team.
"We have been saying this all along, he should have been in the team much before but anyway the good thing is he is back now and I wish him a lot of runs," he said.
Chief selector Mohsin Khan told a press conference on Wednesday that Younis had been included in place of Mohammad Yousuf, who has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury for the series against South Africa.
Mohsin said that Younis would join the conditioning camp and would be part of the national squad for the One-dayers and Test against South Africa.
Younis cameback after he met the Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt in Lahore and sorted out differences.
Zaheer said that Younis Khan's comeback was another example of the "Kitcheri" in the Pakistan Board and that people had come to expect U-turns from the PCB.
"In normal situation things would have been different but with so many issues these days in Pakistan cricket anything could happen but this U-turn is for the good of Pakistan cricket."
Zaheer also said he didn't foresee any problems Younis playing under the captaincy of Shahid Afridi in the one-day series or under Misbah-ul-Haq in the Tests.
"Usually that player who has a permanent place is the captain and has the right to be captain but in Pakistan cricket given the recent situation I think Younis will adjust to the situation. I think, making Misbah Test captain at this stage was a sensible decision."
Another former captain Rashid Latif said that the return of Younis was a good sign for the team and would help it now prepare properly for the 2011 World Cup.
"The World Cup is an important event for us and we need our best players. Younis has been one of our best batsman in recent years and his presence in the team will also bring stability to the side," Latif said.
Former batsman Basit Ali said that while he was happy with Younis' return the Board should still be held accountable for keeping a deserving player out of the team only because of the ego problems the PCB Chairman had with him.
"It is good to see Younis back he deserves a place in the team but we can't afford to allow the PCB to take decisions on the whims and fancies of one individual," he said.
The PCB also issued a statement on Younis' meeting with Butt earlier in the day.
It said all matters pertaining to Younis were now closed. "Today Younis Khan met with Chairman PCB Ijaz Butt. Following this meeting PCB decided that his matter after it was remanded by the appellate tribunal to PCB, stands closed and that Younis' name will be forwarded to the selection committee for consideration for selection on merit," the statement said

Cricket Special Report: Former Pakistani Captain, Wasim Akram feels Indian cricket team will rule for years to come

Nobody wants to talk about the lowly state of Pakistan cricket at the moment, even the former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, who opted to talk about positive steps in Indian cricket instead of the gloomy state of affairs of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The whole world leaves you alone if you are in trouble even your own shadow, especially when someone himself invites those troubles. Pakistan cricket is going through miserable times and even a legend that made his name by playing for Pakistan doesn’t want to discuss his own country’s team. He instead preferred to talk about the promising Indian team which is just getting better and better with every passing day.
Wasim Akram praised the decision of Indian selectors of inducting youngsters into the squad, as the world cup gets closer and who knows they might find a star that can help Indian team to get even stronger.
This induction is a step of rotation policy which was first started by Australian team to rest the key players before big events and throwing emerging players in the team to get a feel of international cricket.
Wasim Akram said, Indian cricket is moving on the right path as it prepares for next year’s World Cup which will be hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh jointly. Meanwhile he added that resting top five players for the One day International (ODI) series will help them to test the metal of players who have been inline fighting for a place to get in the team.
Indian selectors decided to leave out opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir alongside batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. Wasim feels that it is quite a brave call to leave out your best players in a series against one of the top sides of the world who will be itching to take the revenge of Test series white wash.
But he admitted that the decision will be helpful for Indian future as they look to build a best possible side who can dominate for years to come just like West Indies did in 80’s and Australia did it all through last decade.
Wasim added that the recent resounding victory of India against the kangaroos at home shows that they are rightly at the number one spot in Test ranking and their selectors should be applauded for the work they have been doing it for the betterment of cricket in India.
The former Pakistan captain who has been spending most of his time in India post-retirement believes that every team of the world is thinking about the upcoming World Cup and several changes are taking place in all the teams. But Wasim felt aggrieved by the acrimonious state of Pakistan cricket. He said that if the internal problems among the players and PCB are not solved quickly then things can get quite worse.
Pakistan Hockey team had already finished in twelfth position at in their respective World Cup and the same could happen to Pakistan cricket team as well if they do not fix their infightings and egos.  
Wasim affirmed faith in the players who will be replacing the seniors in the One-day and by no means are they lesser than the out going players.
One could imagine himself that if a cricket team has players like Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh as replacements than how good the future of that nation would be. India will surely go on to rule the cricket for years ahead.

Don't 'trap' corrupt cricket players: Australia

 The Pakistan cricket team, which is in the midst of a match-fixing, spot-fixing scandal, may just have received a boost from Australian cricket authorities.

It has unveiled an argument against staging match-fixing coups such as the one by the UK media which allegedly trapped a number of Pakistan players in match-fixing and spot-fixing deals worth tens of thousands of pounds - fingers have been raised against Pakistan captain Salman Butt, and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
If the argument wins, the ICC may not pursue a very aggressive policy to catch the corrupt.
The ICC's plan of using undercover agents posing as illegal bookmakers to "entrap" players has not gone down too well with the Australian Cricketers' Association, which says the idea is neither"reasonable" nor "lawful".
ACA chief executive Paul Marsh said the ICC has not discussed the plan with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations