Younis wants Shoaib, Asif to be pardoned and back in team

Lahore, Jun 19 (UNI) Coming in support of pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Pakistan's ace batsman Younis Khan has urged the PCB to pardon both of them as they have aready paid for their deeds.

Younis, while talking to mediapersons yesterday, said the presence of both the bowlers would further boost the morale of the team.

''I think Muhammad Asif has paid enough for his mistake and should come out from behind the bars.

''Also, world's fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar should be part of national team during the forthcoming international competitions because we are missing both of the pacers very much,'' he said.

Younis said the recent victory over arch-rivals India in the tri-series final at Dhaka has buried all the controversies sorrounding the team and the management.

''However, all these of rumours were the result of a defeat against arch rivals India in round fixture of tri-nation series,'' he said.

The middle-order batsman further added that leading the Pakistani side is not a priority for him and he is more keen to work on his fitness to remain at top during the rest of career.

He also predicted that Pakistan will take its good form in to the Asia Cup that starts from June 24 and would win it.

''Our boys are in rhythm now and after winning tri-nation there are confident to grab the title of Asia Cup and I hope boys will show remarkable performance in the 6-nation regional event,'' he concluded UNI RAR SB DB1242