Pakistan to test bench strength against Australia

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: September 30, 2009

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Johannesburg: India’s worst fears were confirmed on Wednesday as Pakistan skipper Younus Khan admitted that Pakistan would be fielding their reserve players in the game against Australia which India desperately want Pakistan to win if they want to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.

“We will make a few changes, some are forced. Imran Nazir has a broken finger. Mohammad Asif deserves a look in, so do Fawad Alam and Iftikhar Rao. They need to be brought in. Some changes would certainly be made,” said Younus ahead of the all important game to be played at Centurion.

Younus himself has a fractured finger but despite being unfit he had decided to play against India. He lamented that nobody in the side wants to give him a rest. Younus, however, rubbished the claims that Pakistan would look to lose against Australia so that they can knock India out of the tournament.

“I as a person don’t think in that manner. Given a choice, I would love to have an India-Pakistan final we saw at Centurion the other night when the two sides played. It was the only game in this tournament where the stands were jam-packed. Everyone wants to watch an India-Pakistan game. It’s critical for players too. I made my mark against India and was quickly accepted. Same happens for India if any of their youngsters makes a mark against us,” Younus said.

Younus also said that no team in the world would want to lose and break the winning momentum in such a big tournament. “So losing tomorrow’s game is not the way to go. We would actually like to do very well against Australia for we might face them in the final. If your form is good and everything is going well, you don’t want to break the rhythm and lose,” he said.

He said winning or losing is part of the game and both Indian and Pakistani players should be left alone after a clash between the arch-rivals.

“Today everyone is after Dhoni. If we had lost that game (at Centurion), everyone would have been after me, which is not fair. Sports should be above all this. If there is an edge in India-Pakistan game, it’s good for the game. That’s important and not gora aur kala (black or white) and nationalities,” Younus said.

On the other hand, Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting, is satisfied with his team’s performance so far in the tournament and is especially excited about the form of his batsman, also adding that he would have liked the game against India to go the full distance.

“We were disappointed the game did not finish. We were in a strong position and with wickets in hand and a few overs to go, I thought we would have made it to 300,” said Ponting. “A positive was that we got in some good time against some quality spinners. Our batsmen played well so that’s really good going into the Pakistan match, where there will surely be two spinners playing. Hussey and Paine played the spinners very well against India and that augurs well for the upcoming match.”

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