Younis reckons form can land him World Cup spot
"After scoring these hundreds against Australia it has rekindled hope in me that I can play in the World Cup because that is what I want to do," he told a private sports channel.
The hosts beat Australia by 221 runs in the first test to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
Younis, 36, was dropped from the one-day series against Australia last month which left him frustrated and angry and prompted him to lash out at the selectors and the Pakistan Cricket Board for not showing respect to senior players.
He was left out after only playing for his country in one ODI, against Sri Lanka in August, in nearly 18 months.
His frustration arose because he opted to return home after the first ODI against Sri Lanka due to the death of his nephew.
"When I went to join the team in Dubai for the test series I said to myself the past is past and now I have to just focus on doing well and proving myself again," Younis said.
"It happened for me and I am happy that we also won the test. But my feeling is that the selectors need to not consider age or position while selecting players for any form of the game," he added.
"Youth is good for any team but age should not be a bar. No matter what age a player is if he is fit and can deliver then he should be considered for the World Cup.
"The selectors need to see which players can deliver in the World Cup for the team and country," he said.
Australia and New Zealand will host the World Cup from Feb. 14-March 29 next year
Younis, who has played 254 one-day internationals and 92 tests, said he was keen to play in the World Cup if the selectors considered him for the event.
"I know I can deliver because if anything these centuries have only spurred me on to do more and I know there is still much more to achieve with four more tests to follow before the World Cup," he said.
Pakistan play Australia in the second test in Abu Dhabi from Oct. 30 followed by a three-test series against New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates.
The former captain became Pakistan's leading century maker in tests in Dubai with 26 hundreds. His test batting average stands at 52.47 but in ODIs he has averaged 31.75.
COMMENTS (5)
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I am sure Misbah will be a total failure on Australian pitches, he cant rotate strike on sub continent tracks how can he do it on Australian pitches. Secondly, Yunis should only play test cricket and we should groom players like Harris Sohail, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Hammad Azam for world cup. No need for Hafeez, Afridi, Malik, Kamran Akmal and Misbah, they should retire. But I am sure they will only be sacked when Pakistan wont even qualify for the the quarter final of the world cup. Only then the PCB will wake up and sack all the old players, selectors and the coach. Mark my words....
Younis and misbah both will struggle on bouncy pitches and can't rotate the strike! The current one day game is about strike rotation so the runs keep ticking. Both struggle in that department hence are more suited to tests.
@effy: I disagree. we need stability in batting and both Younus and Misbah provide that. We lost the ODI series not because of the run rate but because there was no stability in keeping wickets in hand and batting out 50 overs. If we played the same team in ODIs that won the test match I can guarantee we will win more matches. Moreover it is given that Arfidi is an unwanted distraction and the team is much better off without him.
Team selection was the main reason for Pakistan's losses in the ODI against Australia. Younis should have been selected as he anchors the middle order and provides stability that the younger players don't. Sarfraz should be the wicketkeeper instead of Umar Akmal and open batting. Lastly we need to drop Afridi from the ODI completely. I would prefer addding Sarfraz, play Umar Akmal as a specialist batsman and add a specialist spinner. There is no room for Afridi's 95% failures and 5% successes. We need stability in the batting. Afridi's batting is embarrassing when the opposing teams, the tv commentators, and spectators all know how to get him out and he still gets out the same way skying a chest high ball.
we dont need both Yunis and Misbah in one dayers, if Yunis plays he should be captain and Misbah dropped from ODI's