|
|
| December 23, 2005 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 20, 1426 |
England lost because of overconfidence: Younis
KARACHI, Dec 22: Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan believes England lost both the Test and one-day series since the tourists had come to this country in a different frame of mind following their Ashes victory.
Younis attributed England’s defeats to being overconfident when coming to Pakistan.
“The Ashes euphoria got to them for sure. They had hardly done any homework in the first place about the kind of conditions they would encounter in Pakistan,” Younis told Dawn on Thursday.
He claimed that England did have the potential to beat Pakistan, but lack of planning caused their downfall.
“Most of the England players were still celebrating regaining of the Ashes after 18 years. However, they lacked preparations when they faced us in the recent series. If someone says that injuries to some of the English players contributed to the end results, it can’t be the excuse because it is part and parcel of the modern day game,” Younis added.
The vice-captain stressed Pakistan played better cricket which earned them victories in both Test (2-0) and ODI (3-2) series.
“We definitely worked diligently at our game much before England arrived here. The whole squad went through a rigorous training programme because we were not taking anything for granted,” he revealed.
Younis paid glowing tributes to Inzamamul Haq, the Pakistan captain, fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and coach Bob Woolmer.
“Inzamam was simply magnificent both as captain and the premier batsman. He was an inspiration to the entire team throughout the campaign. I have never seen him in such wonderful touch, especially in the Test series.
“Shoaib’s contributions were just as important as Inzamam’s. He carried the bowling responsibilities superbly and made those breakthroughs when we needed them most. On top of it, he looked much fitter and performed like a committed team-man.
“Bob made us work hard all through the series. He stood by all us whenever we faced difficult times. He was a calming influence on the Pakistan team,” he said.
Younis was naturally disappointed at losing the final One-day International under his captaincy in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.
“We should have won without much trouble. The finishing was never there. Perhaps, the lads got carried away in the closing overs. But that is no excuse for losing.
“It’s never easy batting second on that Pindi wicket since its gets slower and slower towards the end. Players like (Shahid) Afridi and (Abdul) Razzaq react on instinct. They like batting on hard, true surface. In Pindi, they were bound to struggle in timing the ball,” he explained.
Younis warned that Pakistan have to worker harder if they aspire to beat India, who are scheduled here for a three-Test series and five ODIs.
“Of course, we cannot afford to relax against the Indians. They are a formidable outfit. Unlike England they are more familiar with the playing conditions,” he pointed out.
“Remember the last tour? They beat us in 2004 because we played badly. This time, we are more determined and crucially, playing as one unit. This was one aspect of the game which we sorely missed before the England series. After a very, very long time, Pakistan are performing as a team with everyone contributing and playing for each other.
“People talk a lot about how Imran Khan managed to get the best out of the team during his time as Pakistan captain in the 1980s and the 1992 World Cup. Well, the same can be said about Inzamam’s leadership qualities now,” he opined.
| Pakistan v England ODI averages | |||||||||||
| PAKISTAN | |||||||||||
| Batsmen | M | I | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | Ct | St |
| Inzamamul Haq | 4 | 4 | 2 | 170 | 81 | * 85.00 | 89 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| Yasir Hameed | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 54.28 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| Mohammad Yousuf | 5 | 5 | 1 | 220 | 68 | 55 | 75.34 | - | 3 | - | - |
| Kamran Akmal | 5 | 5 | 0 | 245 | 109 | 49 | 88.44 | 2 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Salman Butt | 5 | 5 | 0 | 160 | 67 | 32 | 75.11 | - | 1 | 3 | - |
| Shoaib Malik | 5 | 4 | 1 | 82 | 50 | 27.33 | 77.35 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| Shahid Afridi | 3 | 3 | 0 | 69 | 34 | 23 | 121.05 | - | - | 1 | - |
| Abdul Razzaq | 5 | 4 | 1 | 68 | 51 | * 22.66 | 194.28 | - | 1 | - | - |
| Younis Khan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 | 60 | 18 | 84.9 | - | 1 | 4 | - |
| Rana Navedul Hasan | 5 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 17 | 16 | 114.28 | - | - | 1 | - |
| Danish Kaneria | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | * 2.00 | 50 | - | - | 2 | - |
| Shoaib Akhtar | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1.5 | 60 | - | - | 1 | - |
| Mohammad Sami | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 14.28 | - | - | 1 | - |
| Arshad Khan | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | * - | 92.3 | - | - | - | - |
| Mohammad Asif | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yasir Arafat | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bowlers | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 4w | SR | Econ | ||
| Mohammad Asif | 7 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 7 | 14-Feb | - | 21 | 2 | ||
| Shahid Afridi | 27 | 0 | 113 | 6 | 18.83 | Mar-34 | - | 27 | 4.18 | ||
| Rana Navedul Hasan | 43 | 2 | 223 | 9 | 24.77 | Feb-31 | - | 28.6 | 5.18 | ||
| Shoaib Akhtar | 32.5 | 2 | 184 | 7 | 26.28 | May-54 | 1 | 28.1 | 5.6 | ||
| Arshad Khan | 21 | 3 | 56 | 2 | 28 | 19-Jan | - | 63 | 2.66 | ||
| Yasir Arafat | 5 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 31 | 31-Jan | - | 30 | 6.2 | ||
| Mohammad Sami | 31 | 3 | 130 | 3 | 43.33 | 18-Jan | - | 62 | 4.19 | ||
| Danish Kaneria | 18 | 0 | 99 | 2 | 49.5 | 24-Jan | - | 54 | 5.5 | ||
| ENGLAND | |||||||||||
| Batsmen | M | I | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 | Ct | St |
| A. Flintoff | 5 | 5 | 1 | 187 | 72 | * 46.75 | 80.95 | - | 1 | 2 | - |
| K.P. Pietersen | 2 | 2 | 0 | 84 | 56 | 42 | 127.27 | - | 1 | - | - |
| L.E. Plunkett | 5 | 4 | 1 | 94 | 56 | 31.33 | 77.68 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| V.S. Solanki | 5 | 4 | 1 | 94 | 49 | 31.33 | 62.66 | - | - | 3 | - |
| P.D. Collingwood | 5 | 5 | 1 | 115 | 34 | * 28.75 | 70.98 | - | - | 5 | - |
| A.J. Strauss | 5 | 5 | 0 | 143 | 94 | 28.6 | 78.14 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
| M.J. Prior | 5 | 5 | 0 | 94 | 45 | 18.8 | 77.04 | - | - | - | - |
| M.E. Trescothick | 5 | 5 | 0 | 75 | 23 | 15 | 62.5 | - | - | 3 | - |
| I.D. Blackwell | 5 | 4 | 0 | 53 | 29 | 13.25 | 75.71 | - | - | - | - |
| J.M. Anderson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 29.72 | - | - | 1 | - |
| G.O. Jones | 5 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 14 | 9 | 39.13 | - | - | 5 | 1 |
| S.J. Harmison | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.5 | 50 | - | - | - | - |
| S.D. Udal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| Kabir Ali | 1 | 1 | 1 | 39 | 39 | * - | 76.47 | - | - | - | - |
| I.R. Bell | 2 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 37 | * - | 88.09 | - | - | - | - |
| Bowlers | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | Ave | Best | 4w | SR | Econ | ||
| Kabir Ali | 10 | 0 | 51 | 2 | 25.5 | Feb-51 | - | 30 | 5.1 | ||
| J.M. Anderson | 35.2 | 4 | 179 | 7 | 25.57 | Apr-48 | 1 | 30.2 | 5.06 | ||
| A. Flintoff | 35.5 | 3 | 180 | 7 | 25.71 | Mar-73 | - | 30.7 | 5.02 | ||
| S.D. Udal | 7 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 29 | 29-Jan | - | 42 | 4.14 | ||
| L.E. Plunkett | 40 | 0 | 265 | 7 | 37.85 | Mar-51 | - | 34.2 | 6.62 | ||
| I.D. Blackwell | 38 | 3 | 162 | 4 | 40.5 | 29-Mar | - | 57 | 4.26 | ||
| S.J. Harmison | 36 | 3 | 199 | 3 | 66.33 | 27-Jan | - | 72 | 5.52 | ||
| V.S. Solanki | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 4.6 | ||
|
|
