Pakistan’s chief selector Iqbal Qasim has said the panel will discuss Younus Khan’s ODI future with him after the completion of the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. Younuswas left out of the fifth one-dayer, which Pakistan lost to concede the series 3-1, after making only 10 runs in three innings in Sri Lanka.
Younis, 34, was dismissed for 5, 4 and 1 in the ODIs, falling to Thisara Perera twice and Nuwan Kulasekara once. He was part of the dramatic collapse that cost Pakistan the fourth match in Colombo, where they lost seven wickets for 13 runs. Younushad made only 67 runs in four innings during Pakistan’s previous one-day assignment, the Asia Cup in Bangladesh.
“It’s the duty of the senior cricketers to lead the team, to carry the team and to drive it forward, but if one of your senior players is struggling then that puts pressure on the team,” Qasim was quoted by Pakpassion as saying. “Let the tour of Sri Lanka finish and then we will definitely discuss his future plans with him [Younis]. Younushas of course already requested not to be selected in T20s, I don’t know what he has in mind regarding 50-over cricket.
“I’m sure we will have an amicable chat about his future, as Pakistan needs him for Test cricket for the future. Experience is an invaluable commodity in cricket but you have to be out in the middle performing, which unfortunately Younushas not been doing in 50-over cricket of late.”
Apart from Azhar Ali, who scored 217 at an average of 54, Pakistan’s batsmen struggled to post imposing totals in Sri Lanka. Qasim said their all-round performance had also been “below par”.
“It’s difficult to put Sri Lanka under pressure in their conditions and the variable weather conditions did not make things easy for Pakistan either,” he said. “However we should not make excuses, the overall performance of the team was below par.”
Qasim said the team lacked consistency in all disciplines, their performances veering from exceptional one day to ordinary the next. In the final ODI, Pakistan were shoddy in the field, with several dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities allowing Sri Lanka to win in the last over. “This inconsistency has been hurting Pakistan cricket for many years and it’s about time it was eradicated,” he said. “One day the fielding is outstanding, the next game it’s very poor and the boys are dropping simple catches. The same with the batting, one day it clicks, the next day it misfires.
“Mohammad Sami is an example of this inconsistency, one day he bowls very well and helps the team to victory, the next day he bowls poorly and costs the team the game. It doesn’t matter what your game plan is going into the game – it’s very difficult to impose that game plan onto the opposition if you are inconsistent.”
Despite the defeat in Sri Lanka, Qasim said the selectors would avoid making major changes for the series against Australia in August and the World Twenty20 in September. “You cannot chop and change ahead of a World Cup. There is no point selecting a player for a couple of games and then discarding him,” he said. “I think it’s too late to experiment now ahead of the T20 World Cup and I would expect that most of the personnel in the T20 squad in Sri Lanka recently will be retained.”
