Comeback bid flops for Pakistan's Younus

Karachi:

Former Pakistan captain Younus Khan's chances of making a quick comeback to international cricket looked bleak on Tuesday as he flopped a fourth innings in a row in a drawn match in Karachi.

The 32-year-old Younus, who pulled out of Pakistan's tour of New Zealand in November due to poor batting form, managed scores of nine in each of the two innings in the four-day match.

Younus played for Habib Bank against Sui Northern Gas.

Younus, who was caught at short cover off paceman Imran Ali in the first innings, again fell to a sharp bat-pad catch in the second innings, off spinner Mohammad Hafeez's bowling.

Younus managed scores of seven and four for Habib Bank in the final of the country's premier first-class tournament last month.

The elegant batsman withdrew from the tour of New Zealand and stepped down as captain following his dismal run of scores in the three-match one-day series against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates in November.

Because of his failure, Younus decided to take a break from the game to regain his form in a bid to return to international cricket.

There were also reports he had fallen out with team mates, a reason which forced him to quit as captain.

Younus was not considered for the tour of Australia after not making himself available.

Team managers sent an SOS for Younus after their 170-run defeat against Australia in the first Test at Melbourne last week, but Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt refused to concede to their demand.

"Younus has not made enough runs to prove that he is in good form and we cannot send a player like that," Butt told the Daily Jang last week.

Pakistan is due to announce a one-day squad for the tour of Australia in the next couple of days, but Younus's recent failures will make it hard for him to press for a place in the squad.

Pakistan are currently playing a three-Test series in Australia which will be followed by five one-day matches.

Younus last month vowed to stage a comeback soon.

Regarded as one of the three finest batsmen in the world, he has played 63 Tests, scoring 5,260 runs with 16 hundreds. He also has 5,698 runs in 197 one-day internationals.

He took over as Pakistan captain in January last year and led Pakistan to the World Twenty20 title in England in June.