'Our gift to the people of Pakistan'

“It’s a big achievement for Pakistan. It is a gift from us the people of Pakistan. I knew we could do this even before the start of this tournament. This format is perfectly suited to teams like us who have multiple match-winners,” Younis said on Sunday.

Speaking about man of the match Shahid Afridi and Umar, he said, “Gul has been fantastic, taking vital wickets at crucial moments. Afridi had done a good job in the earlier part of the tournament with ball, and in the last two games he came good with bat as well. Fortunately today, he was been keen on taking singles early on in the innings.”

Younis dedicated the title triumph to Pakistan’s late coach Bob Woolmer, who died in Jamaica during the 2007 50-over World Cup. “If Bob would have been here, he would have been very proud of all of us and sitting next to me. He helped shape my career in 2004 when I was struggling. He also helped all Pakistani cricketers and he had lot of love for Pakistan cricket. He always said Younis would be the next skipper, and that gave me a lot of confidence. I am dedicating this victory to Woolmer,” Younis said with emotion ringing in his voice.

The Mardan batsman also requested other teams to play in Pakistan to help youngsters pick up cricket and maintain the standard in the country.

None of the Pakistan players could not play in the second edition of the IPL in South Africa, owing to political reasons and Younis said politics should not come in the way of cricket.

“We could not play IPL 2. But I will not blame anybody as it was not a fault of IPL or our players. The law and order situation in our country was not good at that time. But I strongly feel politics should not come in the way of cricket between India and Pakistan.”
Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara, with Player of the Tournament Tillkaratne Dilshan sitting beside him, said Pakistan outplayed them in all departments.

“They tackled Mendis and other bowlers well. But Mendis is still our star bowler. However, we could not put enough runs on the board for him to defend.”