Younus Khan feels no match is bigger than an Indo-Pak contest and the rivalry between the two countries continues to grow.

"People talk about the Ashes rivalry and some people have said that India and Australia series has replaced Indo-Pak contests. I disagree," the Pakistan skipper said from Johannesburg.

"I think the response our match with India in this Champions Trophy evoked is proof that Indo-Pak rivalry is still the biggest in world cricket," he added.

Younus said that he was not surprised to see some reports in the Indian media raising doubts over whether Pakistan deliberately lost to Australia to put India out of the Champions Trophy semi-finals.

"I have said it before we did our best and we just failed by a whisker to beat Australia. We had gone into the match fully pumped up and bent on maintaining our winning streak," he said.

"Who does not want to beat the World Champions."

Younus said the way his players fought to defend a low total despite the Australians getting a good start showed how keen they were to win the match.

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"For us it didn't matter that the result could put India out of the competition. We didn't think about it. We were more focused on doing well against Australia. You can't afford yourself to be diverted while playing a strong side like Australia," he added.

The Pakistan captain said he would have loved to see a Pakistan and India final and a victory for his team.

"Nothing could match that. It would be the pinnacle of my career as captain. But now we just have to concentrate on first getting past New Zealand in the semi final and we are not underestimating them at all," he said.

Younis said even when Pakistan and India played a warm up match in the T20 World Cup in England the crowd turnout was amazing.

"I have heard about the possibility of us playing against each other again in England. If that does happen I am sure it will attract big crowds because there are such a large number of Asians in the United Kingdom," he said.

Younis said while he could understand the disappointment of the Indians at seeing their team go out of the competition but cricket should just be treated as a sport.

"Every team has its ups and downs. That is what sports is all about," he said.

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