Qasim asks Younis to work on his game

Pakistan chief selector Iqbal Qasim has advised Younis Khan to concentrate on his individual performance in the coming matches as it was imperative for the captain to lead by example.

"We don't want to put any pressure on him but now that Younis has come out of his recent problems and controversies he should try to get back his old batting form," Iqbal Qasim said.

The former Test spinner also made it clear that unless a captain scored consistently, it affects his captaincy.

"No matter how good a captain any player might be but he has to supplement that with good individual performances and Younis is a senior batsman of the team and in the past has led from the front," Qasim said.

Younis was made captain earlier this year replacing Shoaib Malik and in his very first Test as skipper he scored a triple hundred against Sri Lanka at Karachi.

Qasim said the selectors had lot of faith in Younis as he was a proven performer.

"Every player must realise there is only a certain extent to which the selectors can back him when he is not in good touch," the chief selector said.

Younus managed just 53 runs in three innings in the Champions trophy in South Africa and has struggled for big scores in recent months.

Qasim also defended the dropping of senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq for the series against New Zealand.

"In Pakistan there is no culture of giving a senior player a rest when he is under undue pressure or struggling for form.

"The idea is to allow a player to go back to the basics, take a break and come back fresh. That was our idea behind not selecting Misbah for the coming series," Qasim said.

Misbah responded with a score of 284 runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match in Lahore, which Qasim described as a good omen.

"It is a good sign that Misbah has taken his omission as a challenge. If he keeps on scoring runs in domestic cricket he will come up for consideration for selection when the team for the tour to Australia is announced," he said.