Younis Khan quits ODI cricket

“I had thought that I would retire from ODIs after one good series but unfortunately the time didn’t come since I was shunted in and out of the ODI team”, he said. Pakistan are second in the Test rankings, but only eighth in the limited-overs standings, and are somehow even more inconsistent than their opponents in this format, having spent the summer muddling through series against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

England suffered two costly collapses on the way to 216 all out in the first one-day global against Pakistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

To their credit, England have shown remarkable progress after being the only top side not to reach the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals. “His commitment level is great”.

In a few senses, though, this young England team have already gone to places their predecessors never did.

Last time when the two sides met in UAE in 2012, England whitewashed Pakistan 4-0. “We have been the champions of this game once and I believe we have all [the] necessary ingredients to become champions once again”.

He forced the selectors to pick him after becoming Pakistan’s highest test scorer with 9116 runs from 104 matches during the 2-0 victory against England. Jos Buttler was run out, attempting a non-existent single, three balls later.

Younis, a record breaker for Pakistan in Tests, was a surprise inclusion in the ODI squad. “I am new as captain, so I hope this team will settle”, he added.

The recall for Younis might force Rizwan out of the XI, despite a solid start to his global career, with Pakistan’s main issue being how best to balance the side.

England lost a third wicked in four overs when Taylor clipped Malik to Azhar Ali at midwicket with the score on 157. Morgan, who is playing his first match after being concussed when he was hit on the helmet by a ball from Mitchell Starc of Australia at Old Trafford in September, was guardedly buoyant yesterday.

Buttler scored a run-a-ball 38 in the warm-up against Hong Kong prior to his injury, and head coach Trevor Bayliss is just as confident as his skipper that Buttler is ready to make an impact. After the Test series, both the teams now met in four-match ODI series. An afternoon start should mean cooler temperatures and the challenge of chasing under lights.