The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : The best way to find form? Play India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 20, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

The best way to find form? Play India

Abu Dhabi: Pakistan vice-captain Younis Khan does not have to try too hard to regain his form whenever he is going through the occasional bad patch.

He just needs a game against India to start firing again, revealed the prolific middle order batsman after steering his team to a six-wicket win in the first one-dayer here on Tuesday.

Reserving his best

A perennial thorn in India's flesh, Younis said he had always been ``very comfortable'' playing his neighbours.

``It is just that I try my best against India. Whenever I am out of form, I get to play against India and I regain my form.''

Younis, who top-scored with 71, did not think conditions were difficult for batting at the Zayed Stadium.

``International cricketers must know how to adapt to different conditions quickly,'' he said.

Inzamam's praise

His skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq praised his bowlers for setting up the emphatic win.

``The bowlers performed very well, in fact the fast bowlers have been performing consistently over the past couple of months,'' said the skipper, who made 40.

Invaluable crowd support

Inzamam credited the team's great winning record against India at neutral venues to crowd support.

``There is lot of support for us from the crowd, the atmosphere is exhilarating. Our record shows that we have been playing really well.''

Inzamam said it had not been easy to score and even chasing a modest total could have been tricky.

Commenting on seamer Mohammad Asif, he said, he was emerging as a key player for the team in the lead-up to the World Cup, but added that it was too early to compare him to Glenn McGrath.

``What is important for the team in the lead-up to the World Cup is that all players should be fit and performing. Any team can win if all its players are fit and it continues to win matches. We are hoping that — PTI

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