Problems with players, bad form forced NZ tour pullout: Younus

Younus, who has been replaced as captain by Mohd Yousuf for the three Tests against New Zealand, has taken a break from cricket after Pakistan's one-day series loss to New Zealand.

Younus said though he wants to play for Pakistan, he had no idea where his career was heading.

"Only time will tell what happens and where my career goes. But I have every intention of wanting to play for Pakistan again," he said. Giving an insight into the turmoil within the team, Younus conceded he had problems with some of his teammates but said none of those players came directly to him to discuss the issues.

"The fact is that I was not enjoying my cricket at all for the last few months. I did my best to get the cricketers to play with consistency and focus but that didn't happen. The sad truth is that as captain I failed to get the best out of my players," said Younus.
 
"I was already facing problems with some players and my poor form didn't help as it is a fact that when the captain is not scoring runs it becomes difficult for him to turn things his way," Younus said.

"No one ever came to me directly and told me his grievances. Otherwise I would have tried to resolve the issues," he added. Younus, who played with a broken finger in the Champions Trophy semifinal for a losing cause, also admitted that the team's failure to reach the event's final in South Africa put him under tremendous pressure.

"It is disappointing for me the way we lost the one-day series to New Zealand in Abu Dhabi. We should have easily won the series. But when people talk about my performance they should also look at what others did," he said.

"But one would expect people to understand that anyone can have a bad patch. We carried senior players with us even when they were not scoring enough runs but I backed them," he added.