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Too much pressure on Youhana, Inzy
Yousuf Youhana feels it is time that the younger players in the team owned up responsibility as the constant pressure on him and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to perform could take its toll.
Pakistan vice-captain Yousuf Youhana feels it is time that the younger players in the team owned up responsibility as the constant pressure on him and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to perform could take its toll.
"In this series there has been a lot of pressure on me and Inez to perform and by the grace of God we have taken it well. But the pressure can be very hard and in this third Test I think the other players must also contribute more because cricket is a team game and not about individuals," Youhana said ahead of the series-deciding third cricket Test starting on Tuesday.
Inzamam is the senior-most batsman in the Pakistan side with 93 Tests and 6875 runs including 19 hundreds followed by Youhana who has played 50 Tests for his 3677 runs with 11 hundreds. Inzamam has got scores of 77, 0 and 118 and Youhana 35, 112 and 72 in the first two Tests.
Youhana said players like Yasir Hameed and Taufeeq Umar in particular had been around for a while now in the team and required to show more consistency.
"The team cannot always depend on Inzy or me. In this Test we need to post a big total batting first or second to give our bowlers a chance of bowling the Indians out twice in the match."
Youhana pointed out that the Indian batting line-up was strong and formidable because "all of them bat very responsibly according to the situation and put a big value on their wickets".
"In Multan when Sehwag was batting well, even someone like Sachin Tendulkar just kept blocking at one end and allowed him to do the scoring at the same time guiding him through his innings. In our team also we need to show similar responsibility and cricket sense," Youhana said.
"What we need to do is to learn to build on good starts and consistently keep getting the big scores. That will also give the team a big confidence."
The Pakistan vice-captain, however, said he was confident going into the third Test because Pakistan had more or less developed a very good Test side since the World Cup 2003 as it had won its last three series.
"But it is in one-day cricket that we are still searching for a winning combination. I think our problem is finding proper fifth and sixth bowlers," he said.
Youhana also urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to introduce a central contract system to counter the increasing injury worries of especially the fast bowlers.
"The best way to protect the players from an early burn out due to injuries is for the Board to introduce a central contract system for a pool of 20 to 25 players on an annual basis," Youhana said.
"We are still waiting for the board to do something about it although we have had discussions with them on it in the recent past.
"We have to protect our bowlers in particular. I am not in favour of allowing the bowlers to go and play in county cricket because it means extra workload for them in the year. But because of the money they have to go. I would also go if offered a contract by any county in England," he added.
