Younis Khan

[Colourful Chaddi]

Im confused...is Younis going to play in the tournament as a batsman alone or is he not taking part at all. Can somebody tell me please.

[Orchid]

Originally Posted by Colourful Chaddi

Im confused...is Younis going to play in the tournament as a batsman alone or is he not taking part at all. Can somebody tell me please.

He has been retained in the team as a batsman, Yousuf is the Captain and Razzaq the VC now.

[gangstacocacola]

This is very strange, and we will only get a answer when Younis Khan tells us his reasons. Very stupid by the PCB. This blows the Pakistan chances of this trophy. A new captain, a new vice captain, younis khan in the squad as a batsman, no Inzi, and tension in the dressing room nonetheless. When will they appoint Imran Khan head of the PCB?

[Zainub]

Reminds me of a phrase in my mother tongue which could be translated roughly as hurting your own self with an axe! People are blaming the PCB, and yes, I'm not going to spare them of criticism, but I do not see the wisdom in selfishly undermining the feel good environment around the team just because you didn't have everything entirely your own way. If Younis indeed stepped down because of Faisal Iqbals's selection, then I'd would criticise his decision to withdraw on that account more then I'd criticise PCB's handling of this latest 'issue'.

The job of the captain is to select a playing XI from a pre-selected squad; who gets into this squad is the business of the selection committee, whilst both the captain and the coach do have a the right to present their recommendations to the selection committee, the final decision rests with them. And this is the norm in all test playing nations as far as I'm aware. To withdraw from captaincy and in doing so create an unsettling environment around the team merely because you didn't get the squad you would have ideally wanted speaks of selfishness. If its is 'personal' reason however, then I sympathise with Younis and wish him well. Though from his brief statement [ "I do not want to be a dummy captain" ] the reason seems more of personal 'offense' rather then a personal 'matter'.

The other suggestion going around is that he withdrew because he was irked at not being appointed full time and just for the ICC CT. Personally I have no problem with Inzi being at helm for as long as he's playing, because in any case he wont be playing more then the World Cup. And I also believe that a permanent change in captaincy so close to the World Cup would not be in our interest, we have had Inzi at helm for a long period now and it makes more sense to continue and take that same calmness he brings into a big tournament like that, the same calmness that has, everything said and done about his flaws, still brought us considerable success in recent times. Yes Inzi has his short comings, but I am not prepared as yet that the alternatives are good enough.

Certainly this latest Younis tantrum confirms my doubts. His level of selfishness has quite frankly astounded me. When Strauss was named captain for England's series against Pakistan in Flintoff and Vaughan's absence, he did not throw a tantrum and withdraw from the captaincy suggesting to the board that unless you make me captain permanently till the World Cup or the Ashes or whatever I'm not going to lead the team. Captaincy is an honor, you can't get it at your own terms.

Some one here remarked Younis Khan is a bubbly character, yes he is. But he doesn't not have the same calming influence on the team as does Inzi, lets not forget that the only public rows within the team to emerge since the time of the last World Cup have been those which arose during Younis Khan's stint in vice-captaincy including a rather ugly episode with Afridi in the West Indies. Younis has good cricket skills and astute captaining ability, no doubt, and Pakistan are very positive in not only their mind set but also body language when playing under him, but it would seem he is not as competent at man-handling and people's skill, as well as monitoring his own 'bubbly character' as well as does Inzi, which is not a very promising sign, given Inzi is in the fag end of his career, and the World Cup might well be his last tournament, and we would certainly need a long term replacement for him after that. One hopes Younis Khan will realise with the course of time that there are other things more important then just having your way.

As for the PCB, as usual, their capacity to engage in grand messes always keeps on improving. Why was this allowed to happen in the first place? Why did no one take Younis Khan into confidence about his position as a definite long term captaincy option, so that he would not have feel apprehended at just being named captain for the ICC CT, if that is the reason for his withdrawal. True he should not have felt so apprehended at the decision in first place, but for clarity's sake, it was certainly their responsibility to effectively convey to him their plans before making public announcements. If that is not reason for Younis' withdrawal, and he has a grievance with the selection committee, again, why was there no communication between Wasim Bari and co. and Younis Khan, why was the disagreement over Iqbal's selection not sorted out privately before hand? Why does it always have to come to a public farce? Does the PCB not value its own reputation at all so it just allows situations like this to materialise ever so often, so that they're literally hung out on the ropes free for all the world to make fun of them? Sigh. Somethings really never change.

[Mr Hutt]

I totally agree with Zainub on all but one point

True that Yunis should really have thought of the team spirit and future rather than go berserk and storm out, which is effectively what he did. However he IMO is a much better captain than Muhammad Yusuf, therefore the PCB should have been more forth right and eased him in the position a little smoother, no matter what went on behind doors.. the PCB did do something to set this guy off.. and in this way... someone who claps the runner after every run is really not prone to this sort of stuff. It does seem weird of him because as he is vice captain he is really supposed to stand up and take charge since inzi aint here, however if you read his remarks after he got the captaincy as to how much of an honour it is.. and then to what happened today.. something is very very wrong. We should know soon though.. people in pakistan are not very prone to keeping their mouths sewed up whatever it is as i said before politics...Pakistan dont need more controversy. Seems like they are digging themselves into a deep deep hole. I just read this piece as well... and it seems our affable charecter has a temper as loose as genghis khan.
http://content-www4.cricinfo.com/icc...ry/261517.html

[Captain]

I have always followed cricket with a passion, but this has hurt me the most. My favorite player after Imran now on the verge of extinction, this article puts everythign about PAk Cricket to light,http://content-www4.cricinfo.com/ic...ory/261517.html, and now I have lost my hunger for cricket, i will always be a fan but not in tehsame way. I thought the PCB had changed was on teh verge of somethign great, but alas Pak will never change. No order will ever come to the madness, so here I take my bow. I will now forever be a casual fan checking in once in a while on scores and whatnot. but its time to move on. May cricket live forever.

[ll0OoO0ll]

As the speculations continue to revolve around Faisal Iqbal's selection without approval of Younis Khan being the major cause behind the current crisis, I would find little difference between Darrel Hair and Younis Khan when it comes to making hasty hard handed decisions. Younis Khan is not the only anchor in Pakistan team who beleives to hold the posion of screwing with PCB right after being awarded with Captaincy. I wont mind Pakistan playing without him.
Again, I am not implying anything to support Faisal Iqbal who IMO does not deserve a spot in Pakistan's team anyway, but Younis made a mess of a situation which couldve been resolved by other channels. I dont think he is mature enough to understand the diplomacy aspect of captaincy and perhaps needs a lil more time before becoming a captain rather than giving the world a chance to laugh at Pakistan. As a player you MUST put your country before your personal ego.

[greg]

Originally Posted by Zainub

Reminds me of a phrase in my mother tongue which could be translated roughly as hurting your own self with an axe!

Which we would call 'Cutting off your nose to spite your face'.

Which appears to be exactly what he has done and probably ended his chances of taking over from Inzamam as the next captain when Inzi retires.

It is a shame that politics have once more messed up Pakistan's preparations for a tournament as i thought they had a real chance of winning but after this i can see a return to the bad old days of underachievement.

I hope for Pakistan's sake that Inzi can recover team unity for the world cup.

[Wanderer]

What a big ole mess...But if the following are Younis' reasons, then I am behind him 100%. Perhaps not with the way he went about it, but the reason behind his action...

From cnn..
"Ironically, Yousuf, who along with Younis has been Pakistan's most dependable batsman in recent times, is said to be one of the players who did not support Younis to lead the side in the absence of Inzamam.

Sources close to Younis confirmed that Razzaq and Shahid Afridi were among a small group of players who did not want Younis as the future captain.

"Younis knows about this and he took his decision because he does not want to lead a disoriented and disunited outfit in such an important tournament," one source disclosed.

Seeing as I don't always trust the media (as I have personal experience on how WRONG they can be), I don't know how much truth in the above...But like I said. If these are Younis' reasons...

[Zainub]

I think you can safely dismiss those claims Wanderer. From what I've read quite a significant amount of effort was taken by the coach, Inzi, Yousuf him self and even Shereyar Khan to persuade Younis to change his mind, but it seems he was adamant.

The reports linked are in Urdu, I would have translated the lot of them if I had the time right now, but for brief they include amongst other things, eye witness accounts from reporters of the proceedings at the Gadaffi between 11 and 6 yesterday during which all these events unfolded, and it contains not one but several revelations of several efforts that were undertaken to try and persuade Younis to change his mind that all resulted in vain.

At one point, it was reported, Woolmer had kept his hand on him in an attempt to explain calmly but he shrugged it off and discontinued listening to him. Much of it comes across as very irresponsible selfish behaviour and now I can very well see why Osman Samiuddin wrote yesterday that Younis is very lucky to still have his place in the team, it might well have been his apology and some insistence from Yousuf and Inzi to Shehryar Khan and co. that might have saved him.

So I cannot see how the news report you site can claim Yousuf and even some one like Razzaq opposed to Younis' long term appointment, they have all played well under him during his vice captaincy stint and shown to have no problems with either him personally or with the way he handled the team. Yousuf in particular gets along very well with Younis.

Yes Younis did have a confrontation with Afridi but I seriously doubt some how that even Afrid would have a problem with him in the long term based on the events in Barbadous from two summers ago. Afridi him self has said a lot of times in the recent past that the team has performed well off late because "Inzi Bhai" is the only 'big fish' in the team as it were, so they is very little clash of personality within the rest of the squad, and that every one gets along well.

So I really doubt senior figures like Razzaq. Afridi and Yousuf would have a 'problem' with Younis being captain. I really really doubt that. It just seems to me Younis took a hasty, angry, sentimental decision based on his disappointment at either the selection of Faisal Iqbal or his own-non selection as a permanent captain or something else equally petty in nature.

If only Younis had the sense to go and speak to the board in private before making his decision, discuss his views with Shereyar, try and find a way out, or if PCB had the sense to clear things to him from before hand them selves, all of this could have so easily been avoided.

PS: Oh and yeah, just recalled the link might well not work for you even if you can read Urdu, cause you need registration to view the articles there. You can sign up from www.express.com.pk if you wish to read the reports.