High-flying Younus lifts Pakistan cricket

CRICKET: KARACHI, Feb 28 - In two years Younus Khan has gone from shunning the captaincy of Pakistan's cricket to being hailed Thursday as its saviour after his epic 313 runs in the first Test against Sri Lanka this week.

The 31-year-old Younus's marathon innings of 12 hours and 48 minutes not only helped Pakistan draw the match but elevated him to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) batsmen's rankings.

But more than his batting, Younus's fearless attitude and positive approach suggests he is the man to lead Pakistan cricket out of a turbulent period.

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif expressed great confidence in Younus.

"Younus taking the responsibility and leading from the front augurs well for Pakistan cricket. He doesn't demand respect, he commands it and this is the best quality for a captain," said Latif, widely regarded as Younus's mentor.

Wasim Akram, another former Pakistan captain, believes Younus can bring home the laurels.

"Younus showed that records matter less and team comes first. I think if he stays as captain, Pakistan can win the 2011 World Cup," said Wasim.

He was referring to two records that came within striking distance for Younus this week - Hanif Mohammad's Test score of 337 runs for Pakistan in 1958 and Brian Lara's world record of 400 in 2004. Many believed Younus would never lead Pakistan again after he turned down an offer of the captaincy following team's shock first-round defeat in the 2007 World Cup held in the West Indies. Pakistan's 2-1 defeat in the one-day series against Sri Lanka last month forced the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to replace Malik with Younus.

Younus also resigned from the captaincy before the Champions Trophy 2006, saying he did not want to be a "dummy" capatin. But he accepted the role after a change in the PCB set-up the next day.

SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS
644-7 declared - (M. Jayawardene 240, T. Samaraweera 231,  
K. Sangakkara 70, M. Warnapura 59, Danish Kaneria 3-170)

PAKISTAN - 1ST INNINGS

K. Manzoor c P. Jayawardene b Mendis 	 		 27
S. Butt c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 		 23
Younus Khan b Fernando 					313
Shoaib Malik run out 	 				 56
Misbah-ul-Haq lbw b Fernando 				 42
Faisal Iqbal lbw b M. Jayawardene 			 57
Kamran Akmal not out 	 				158
Yasir Arafat not out  	 				 50
EXTRAS (b5, lb11, nb18, w5) 				 39
TOTAL (for six wkts decl, 248.5 overs)			765

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-44 (Butt), 2-78 (Manzoor), 3-227 (Malik), 
		 4-357 (Haq) 5-531 (Iqbal), 6-596 (Younus).

BOWLING: Vaas 36-10-66-0 (8nb), 
	 Fernando 39-2-124-2 (7nb, 1w), 
	 Mendis 59-14-157-1 (3nb, 4w), 
	 Muralitharan 65-14-172-1, 
	 Dilshan 19-3-82-0, 
	 Paranavitana 5-0-33-0, 
	 Sangakkara 10-0-34-0, 
	 M. Jayawardene 6.5-0-41-1, 
	 Warnapura 9-0-40-0.

SRI LANKA - 2ND INNINGS
N. Paranavitana run out 	 		 	 9
M. Warnapura c Akmal b Gul  				 2
K. Sangakkara lbw b Kaneria  	 		        65
T. Dilshan c Iqbal b Gul 	  			 8
M. Jayawardene c Iqbal b Kaneria  		        22
T. Samaraweera not out  	 			24
P. Jayawardene not out 	 				 7
EXTRAS (nb7)  	   					 7
TOTAL (for five wkts, 31 overs) 			144

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Warnapura), 2-32 (Paranavitana), 3-45 (Dilshan), 
		 4-103 (M. Jayawardene), 5-120 (Sangakkara).

Bowling: Gul 9-1-41-2 (4nb), 
	 Sohail 6-0-33-0, 
	 Arafat 6-0-32-0 (1nb), 
	 Kaneria 9-1-35-2, 
	 Malik 1-0-3-0 (2nb). AFP