Younus khan says he's lost command over team

In a fresh twist to the never-ending soap opera that is Pakistan cricket, reports have quoted Younus Khan as saying that he 'lost command' over the team with a group of senior players intent to undermine him, leading to his request for a rest from the PCB.

"I met the chairman today and told him I needed to rest," Younis was quoted as saying by the website cricinfo. "I told him I feel as if I have no command over this team. And if a leadership has no command over its players, what is the point of continuing to lead? I also told him that the last 3-4 months have been very trying times for me, not just with the cricket but all that has happened outside it. I need time to get myself together now."

After the Champions Trophy, in which Pakistan lost in the semi-finals to New Zealand, Younus had offered his resignation in the wake of match-fixing allegations, but one of the underlying reasons was also the lack of support he got from a group of players.

Although Younus has not named anyone, reports suggested that among the players unhappy with Younus's captaincy were Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi.

Sources close to Younus were quoted as saying that he was very disappointed at the manner in which some of the senior batsmen lost their wickets in the third and final ODI against New Zealand, when an unexpected 103 run partnership for the last wicket almost took Pakistan to victory. However that came after Pakistan were 101/9, with a lot of batsmen getting out to bad shots on a pitch that wasn't difficult.

"He was really unhappy with the shots some of the batsmen played and he feels as if they did it deliberately to undermine him," one source told cricinfo. "He just feels as if he is knocking his head against a brick wall, telling batsmen, senior guys, how to play and them just not listening. He is tired of the constant fighting within the team, especially when it is not clear what they are all fighting or upset about. Nobody has gone to him directly to say anything and that has upset him the most. It isn't so much the pressure of his own failures that has brought him down as this."

With this latest chapter in the captaincy drama, Pakistan has appointed Mohammad Yousuf as the interim captain for the New Zealand tour.

Spinners will dominate Ind-SL series: Maninder

Bangalore: Former India spinner Maninder Singh said on Thursday that the Indian spinners will have an edge over their rivals in the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka.

He attributed this to the locally manufactured cricket balls, which the Indian spinners can use better.

"I feel the spinners will surely dominate the Test series because the wickets in Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Mumbai (the venues for the three Tests) are spinner-friendly.

"Also I see a slight advantage to the Indian spinners as they are used to bowling with the locally manufactured balls, which has a slightly different seam than the balls used in Sri Lanka or Australia,”Maninder Singh told Cricketnext.com here on Thursday.

"There is hardly any difference between the Sri Lankan and Indian spinners but Harbhajan and company cherish bowling with the Indian made balls especially when the wickets give them some assistance though I am not very happy with the selection of the Indian new ball bowlers," the former left arm spinner added.

"I sincerely think that Ishant Sharma should have been rested and asked to iron out the flaws in his bowling by playing in the Ranji Trophy matches while Sudeep Thyagi would have been a better choice to S Sreesanth, who is a good bowler but too temperamental. Sreesanth is also coming off a long injury lay off and has not done much to warrant a recall," Maninder pointed out.

Insisting that Delhi seamer Ashish Nehra looked unfit to play in Tests, Maninder said, this was the right time for the selectors to blood a couple of youngsters as they would have benefited playing on Indian soil under an experienced campaigner like Zaheer Khan.

"Nehra looked totally worn out at the end of the One-Day series against the Aussies and I don’t think he would have made any impression against the Lankans. Moreover, his fielding is also a weak point so the selectors did the right thing by ignoring him.

"However, they (selectors) could have tried out a couple of ‘rookies’ (including Thyagi) as they could have been benefitted playing at their back yard with an experienced bowler like Zaheer Khan" he said.

Maninder, however, was satisfied with the choice of batsmen and hoped Murali Vijay gets a chance to play in the eleven.

"Indian batting looks very strong with both Rahul (Dravid) and VVS (Laxman) back but I would like to see Murali Vijay included in the playing eleven because he is ideally suited for Tests especially on Indian wickets. I like the way he batted in the only Test he has played and I hope he gets his chance," Maninder said.

Lee not first pick for Test team

Brett Lee will not be Australia's first choice pick in the starting eleven in the upcoming Test series against West Indies and Pakistan, according to chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch.

Hilditch made it clear that Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus would be the trio of pacers that would get preference ahead of veterans Lee and Stuart Clark.

"Obviously I can't be specific ahead of a selection meeting, but as I said after South Africa it's going to be difficult to go away from that bowling group," he was quoted as saying by The Australian.

"It's going to take something pretty special for Brett Lee or Stuart Clark to force their way in for a variety of reasons. I think the situation has pretty much remained as is. Those three bowlers were the leading wicket-takers in the Ashes.

"One (Johnson) has just been named international cricketer of the year, Hilfenhaus was the bowler of the Ashes and Peter Siddle was the young cricketer of the year.

"They've all staked really high claims to maintain their positions but Brett and Stuart Clark remain very good bowlers. Brett has been one of our very best. It's up to him to get back to four-day cricket and demonstrate a case to get back in."

After a side strain kept him out of the Ashes, Lee has bowled well on his return, albeit in the limited-overs format. However, with Hilditch making it clear that the selectors would focus not just on the present series but also keep an eye on next summer's Ashes, the emphasis is likely to shift to the younger set of bowlers.

Injury scare for Dilshan ahead of Tests

Mumbai: Sri Lankan all-rounder Tilakaratne Dilshan has suffered a minor ankle sprain but the team management is confident of his availability for the first Test against India starting at Ahmedabad on November 16.

"It's a minor ankle sprain. He batted today (in the indoor nets) for some time. He should be okay in a couple of days. As of now the reports are very positive. He has to see how it feels while practicing on the field. Hopefully he should be fit for the first Test," visiting team manger Brendon Kuruppu told reporters at the MCA's Recration Centre in Bandra-Kurla Complex.

"He's okay and there's no need to panic. We will assess the injury at the ground. He suffered the injury while playing a warm-up game (yesterday) at the MCA's indoor stadium (with his teammates)," Kuruppu said.