The most obvious “hit” that has not been mentioned yet is the leadership of Younis Khan. The guy had plenty of detractors; many of them on Gupshup, and including me. Most people were totally pissed off at his elevation to Vice Captaincy, when his own place in the team was shaky. We all thought he is going to rob Shoaib Malik of his rightful #3 position in the team. Some were annoyed at the casual manner in which Youhanna was stripped of his Vice Captaincy, and offloaded their anger on Khan.
Archives of Gupshup are evidence of the disdain Younis elicited from the members for his batting prowess. Threads like Youseless Khan were opened and some email lists that I subscribe to, people were wondering how come a Pathan hits such weak shots that he is never able to hit a six. Veggie Pathan was often used as an insult. I don’t think any of them were wrong at the time they were written. Younis definitely has improved by leaps and bounds in recent months. And may be, the role of Vice Captaincy has also contributed in his success as a batsman.
Before the Indian tour, we tended to ignore his tremendous performance in Australia in the previous tour. After Mohali, Younis was literally murdered by the pundits. Failed with the bat. Didn’t hold the catches, and no leadership to show off. Why is he in the team, was the loudest cry coming from the experts.
The guy never spoke a word in the press. He focussed on his game and had support from his team, and then he bounced back. His performances in tests #2 and #3 made him not only the highest scorer from Pakistan in the whole test series, but also the second highest scorer amongst both teams, second only to Sehwag. He topped in the score averages (101), from both teams.
But the biggest contribution was not in batting or fielding, but the role of ‘heir apparent’. While in this series, Inzi, for the first time, took off his cape of Mr Indifferent and became a new animated Skipper, it was Younis who infused a new found self-belief in the team. Whenever Inzi was off the field, you can visibly see the stand-in captain taking charge. Talking to bowlers, making constant field adjustments and generally doing a pretty good job of playing according to a plan and leading by example to keep the opponents under pressure. His throw to run out Sehwag in 4th ODI was symbolic of the resurgence of Pakistan team. Aggression was the word and the whole team displayed it constantly in the last four games to completely overwhelm the Indian team. So much was the confidence of Pakistan team management had in Younis that Inzi never even bothered to come out in the field for the sixth ODI. Granted he was suffering from a back ache and advised rest, but you can bet that had Inzi felt a lack of confidence in his deputy, he may just have walked in. But Younis was impeccable, to the point of almost-faultless. Yeah, he could have brought in Rana earlier for the second spell, or tried Afridi/Malik a few over earlier, but the victory margin of 159 runs speaks volumes.
Inzamam still has a few years of cricket left. And currently he is head-and-shoulders above any batsman Pakistan has. It is hard to imagine our batting line up without Inzamam, and surely once Inzamam leaves, there may again be a brittleness back in the line up. But, from a leadership stand-point, I believe we have found our man. Younis may not win all the games. And surely the West Indian tour will be a great test for the team as well as Younis, but the flashes of brilliance he has shown, and the team spirit he has displayed, I think Imran Khan was absolutely correct when he identified Younis and said, we need a leader with aggression. Spot on, Mr Khan!
