Karachi, April 20 (Inditop) Pakistan captain Younis Khan has appealed to his players to put aside the bitter memories of the recent past and shine against Australia in a one-day series starting from Wednesday in Dubai.
Younis said Monday his boys have a golden opportunity of beating Australia in the series that will include five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game.
He believes that a forceful showing in the series will help Pakistan recover from a series of setbacks, including the shifting of 2011 World Cup matches from the country because of security concerns.
The series opener against Australia to be played at the brand-new Dubai Sports City Stadium Wednesday is the first one-dayer between the two teams in more than four years.
“This is a very big series for several reasons,” said Younis, who took over from Shoaib Malik in January this year following a humiliating 234-run defeat against Sri Lanka in Lahore.
“If we play well, we can become like Inzi (Inzamam) and Bob Woolmer’s sides in 2005 and 2006,” said the experienced batsman referring to a successful run from the Pakistan team when the late Bob Woolmer was the coach and Inzamam-ul-Haq the captain.
“If we win (against Australia), then people will have to take notice because it is Australia.”
Younis pointed out that good performances from his players in the series will bolster their international careers.
“Any guy who takes the opportunity here and does well, it’ll be a massive break for them internationally. This is how I am looking at it personally and trying to instil in the team. I am fairly sure they are aware of it. If as a player you take off in this series, nobody will be able to bring you down.”
Australia is without its captain Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee but Younis warned that, beating them would still be tough.
“They are still very balanced and the style of play and their motivation doesn’t ever change,” he said.
“They are the only team in the world where players come in and go out and it makes very little difference. They are still a top side. If we do well, play to our potential and win a few matches, then I really think we can start getting out of this phase and move on.”
rounak