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Galle: Younis Khan, the Pakistan captain,
has expressed confidence in his batsmen's ability to tackle
the wiles of spinner Ajantha Mendis in the three-Test series
starting at Galle on Saturday. Younis said his batsmen's
familiarisation with Mendis is only not because the two
teams have played each other often in the past year or so,
but also because Pakistanis are used to playing spin at
home.
"We have a lot of offspinners, left-arm spinners and
legspinners," Younis said. "The wickets are similar
to Pakistan. Although there is more grip on the Sri Lankan
pitches, all pitches are flat. Why Sri Lanka and Pakistan
are meeting each other so often is because of their good
relationship. Both teams know each other's weaknesses. Because
of our nature we compete with each other very well."
Younis lamented the abrupt ending to the last Test series
between the two countries in Pakistan early this year. "It
was turning out to be a nice series at that time especially
the first Test when Sri Lanka scored something like 600
and we scored 700. That was a crucial time for us. I was
the new captain and we had introduced a couple of youngsters.
There was no need for this kind of ending, especially that
Lahore incident. We will start where we finished off in
Lahore. It's good for both teams."
Younis said he would miss Muttiah Muralitharan who has been
ruled out of the series with a leg injury. "The last
series I played against Murali, I pulled my hamstring stretching
all the way trying to play him for two days. He is a fantastic
bowler. Whenever Murali is under pressure he talks to you.
When I scored 300 in Karachi he talked to me all the time
chatting and laughing. I will miss him."
Younis stated that he always wanted to be positive and would
go to the Test with three fast bowlers. "For the spinners'
place I have the option of playing either Shoaib Malik,
Danish Kaneria or Saeed Ajmal."
"Pakistan has not been playing a lot of Test cricket
in the last few years. It's a good chance if one team can
hold its nerves and win. The last series was close when
suddenly we took five wickets. This wicket looks a good
track, harder than the one at Karachi. It depends on the
first session. If you have a good start you have a good
chance of winning. It depends on how the batsmen and bowlers
react to the wicket. Its 50-50 for both teams."—Agency |