KARACHI, Sept 17: Pakistan must concentrate on controlling England’s Ashes heroes Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen in the forthcoming cricket series, vice-captain Younis Khan said on Saturday.

“We can’t let them get away. Because they are match-winners and play the spinners well they will hold the key to the series in Pakistan and India,” he said.

“They are a destructive pair and they can turn a match around with their positive approach. They made the difference in the Ashes series.”

Pietersen, in his debut Test series, was England’s highest scorer against Australia with 473 runs in the five Tests while Flintoff dominated with bat and ball, scoring 402 runs and taking 24 wickets.

England will tour Pakistan from Oct 26 to play three Tests and five One-day Internationals before going to India in March.

England captain Michael Vaughan said this week his side needed to do well in Pakistan and India to have a chance of changing the world rankings which still have world champions Australia in the top spot.

“We haven’t been to the sub-continent and won yet. If we play good cricket over there, I’m sure the rankings will change,” Vaughan said.

Younis, who has scored four hundreds in Pakistan’s last eight Tests, said Pakistan faced a tough series against England.

“They have just beaten Australia and any side which has done even reasonably well against Australia in recent times has gone on to perform in their next series,” he said.—Reuters