I’d like cricket to be the biggest winner: Younis

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Johannesburg: Pakistan’s match against India has got closer, but captain Younis Khan was as relaxed on Friday as he’d been on Thursday when The Telegraph met him at the Sandton Sun.

The following are excerpts from Younis’s media conference in neighbouring Centurion

Pressure associated with an India-Pakistan clash

It’s there, but I’ll be treating tomorrow’s game like any other match... If the team starts taking the pressure, then it could collapse... The key, then, is handling it.

Significance of the clash

Again, it’s a difficult time for Pakistan and we need some good wins... Winning the Champions Trophy would be great... The entire nation is behind both teams... At the end of the day, though, I’d like cricket to be the biggest winner.

Whether it’s a revenge match for Pakistan, which lost to India in the 2003 World Cup, in Centurion

No... We need some good wins, that’s it... This is sports and we won’t be fighting out in the middle... In fact, you’ll find both (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni and I absolutely calm tomorrow...

Prospects

Every game starts 50-50, but conditions could make a difference.

His fitness

I’m not 100 per cent there, but to get to that stage, I’ll need four weeks... I’ve avoided pain-killing injections... I’ll play with this pain, for one has always done so... A little pain somewhere or the other.

Whether he would’ve played had the opposition not been India

(Laughs) No... Look, it would’ve been easy for me to run away from the India match, but I’d like to play a captain’s innings... I’d like to emulate Sachin’s performance (98) against us in the 2003 World Cup... Aaj bhi log baat karte rehte hain... It will be great if I can, say, score a hundred with a broken finger... I’ve looked at the bigger picture and motivated myself to play through this pain.

Sachin factor

He’s not hovering around us like a ghost... Koi jinh-bhoot to nahin hain... We don’t fear him... I think there’s more pressure on Sachin as he doesn’t have (Virender) Sehwag and Yuvraj (Singh) around... Having said that, there’s so much to learn each time that he scores big. Dekhne mein achcha lagta hai.

Yuvraj’s absence

Wouldn’t say it’s good luck for us, rather it’s bad luck for India...

Dhoni as captain

He’s been doing a fantastic job and, with experience, is more mature and much calmer now... His performances have been improving day by day.

Whether youngsters like Mohammed Aamer and Umar Akmal will be able to handle the pressure

They don’t know what pressure means and, so, that’s good for the team... The experienced players feel the heat a lot more, not so the newcomers.

Having somebody of Intikhab Alam’s experience in the dressing room

He’s been around for so many years and that’s of help... A team should have a mix of youth and experience... A senior group is essential.

Finally, the surface at Centurion

Usually, the wicket doesn’t matter unless it’s soft, as it was this morning... With sunshine, it could be different when we see it before the toss. The same surface had been used for Thursday’s South Africa-New Zealand clash.
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