KARACHI, May 13: Shane Warne’s inspiring leadership in the Indian Premier League continues to impress all and his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Younis Khan believes the side owes its rich success to the Australian spin great.

Younis, who leaves for India on Thursday to join the Jaipur team, said that he was impressed by Warne’s captaincy while watching the matches on television.

“I think it shows that when you play under good captains you tend to pick up a lot of good leadership qualities and instincts,” he said.

“Warne has I think benefited from playing under good captains and he is very much in control of things in the IPL. He is such an experienced player that this is showing through in the competition.”

Younis said he had been training hard despite his domestic commitments and would be prepared for the last two weeks of the IPL in which Rajasthan Royals appear to be close to qualifying for the semi-finals.

Younis, who has missed the first half of the IPL due to family commitments, said it would be interesting to see how well Warne had prepared his team for every opposing team and batsman.

“Warne has been a great bowler and a opponent to respect and admire. His success I think has a lot to do with the way he picks up weaknesses in a batsman so quickly and the good thing he is not afraid to back his players. He is in good control of the situation and always thinking ahead which are signs of a good captain,” Younis said.

The Pakistani veteran said he had been in regular touch with the Rajasthan team which surprised everyone with their performances despite being dubbed as a weaker team in the competition.

Younis said he was looking forward to playing under Warne and though he had played a lot against him, they never really spoke much to each other.

“We didn’t communicate much but I have always respected him as a world class bowler and he always gave me respect which is a big thing for me.”

Younis recalled scoring two hundreds for Yorkshire against Hampshire when Warne played for them in the county championship last season. “Even then he gave me respect and that felt good.”

Younis, however, made it clear he was concerned about the lack of Test cricket opportunities for his national team.

“I still think that Test cricket is the real challenge for any professional cricketer and it is worrying that we are not playing many Tests this year.

“Somehow we have to manage although lack of Test exposure means our younger players will take longer to develop because five-day cricket is the best platform for any new player to develop his talents.”

Younis said he was disappointed at Australia not touring Pakistan.

“That series meant a lot to me as I love playing Test matches. But we have to move on and hope the series takes place later on as announced. The good thing [about Pakistan cricket] is that we have some good youngsters coming through, Sohail Tanvir being a prime example,” he said.—Agencies