Younis praises Sanga’s captaincy

GALLE: Pakistan captain Younis Khan praised the captaincy of Kumar Sangakkara after his team was beaten by 50 runs in the first Test by Sri Lanka at Galle yesterday.
“It was good captaincy by Sangakkara that got his team a win. If somebody else had captained he would have come straight away with the fast bowlers. But Sanga was fantastic he gave it to a spinner to bowl and he put us under pressure when he took back-to-back wickets,” said Younis reflecting back on his team’s surprise defeat.
“It’s all about pressure. Before this series I was telling that both teams had youngsters and the team that takes the pressure well will win the game. I was surprised when Sangakkara brought on a spinner from the other end. Our batsmen played across the line to the spinners which got them into trouble. We have faced (Rangana) Herath before in Pakistan and played him well,” Younis said.
“We have a young team and it is not right to give stick to them right away with two Tests to go. Three of them are debutants. They’ve played a lot of Twenty20s and ODIs but only 2-3 batsmen have played about 50 Test matches. Because of the inexperience our team has not handled the pressure well. But we will pick up there are two more games. The main worry for me is that when we are under pressure suddenly we make mistakes. We have to work on how to handle pressure. From good positions we have a habit of giving a chance to other team to come back. International cricket is all about taking pressure,” he said.
Speaking further Younis said: “We are slow starters every time. We lose and suddenly we lift our game. Same like Twenty20 we were not in good shape and we were at the bottom of the ladder. Suddenly we win the World Cup. This is a worry for me why we do this all the time. We have youngsters in the team given time they will learn from their mistakes. If we play to our potential in the next two Tests we may square the series or win it.”
Younis said that the first innings lead of 50 was insufficient and they should have got something over 150 knowing they had to bat last on the pitch. “With Yousuf getting a hundred and Malik batting well we should have got a lead of over 100-150. It was the turning point where we allowed Sri Lanka into the game.”
Yousuf admitted that it was not a bad decision to put Sri Lanka to bat first because there was moisture on the wicket on the first day, but added: “Sri Lanka adapted to the conditions better than us.”
Pakistan’s shoddy batting performance overshadowed the fine bowling of 17-year-old debutant left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Aamer who took six top order wickets in the Test.
Younis pleaded with the media not to compare him to the great Wasim Akram right now but to give him time to establish a name for himself. “Aamer is a young guy but don’t compare him to Wasim Akram. This is the problem in our country. Suddenly someone bowls well he is compared to Akram and then it becomes hard for me to manage him and for the player. Give him some time 2-3 years after that we will talk about him.”