GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Vice-captain Younis Khan is unwilling to take over the reins of a beleaguered Pakistani team even though Inzamam-ul-Haq’s decision to step down as captain following the country’s shock exit from the World Cup makes the prolific batsman an obvious choice to lead the side.
Sources close to Younis Khan told ‘The News’ that the Mardan-born player is not interested in captaining Pakistan because of internal strife within the team and also due to his bad experience in last fall’s International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in India.
Under Younis, Pakistan flopped miserably in the Champions Trophy and there were suspicions that some of the key players conspired to tarnish his reputation as a future captain.
Inzamam-ul-Haq missed the Champions Trophy because of an ICC ban and has now resigned as captain following Pakistan’s worst ever World Cup showing that saw them getting kicked out of the event’s opening following a shock defeat against underdogs Ireland.
With Inzamam out, Pakistan desperately need a new leader to rebuild a side that is reeling following the World Cup embarrassment and the death of its coach Bob Woolmer. Captaining Pakistan, easily the most volatile of the Test-playing teams, may be a thorny job but even then there are several candidates for the assignment.
All-rounder Shahid Afridi has long been fancying his chances of taking over from his mentor Inzamam. It is believed that Abdul Razzaq, also a close Inzamam ally, thinks he has the credentials to be given the team’s command. Pace star Shoaib Akhtar, if he overcomes his fitness and doping-related woes, would also be an aggressive candidate. Then there are a few more potential future captains like the talented Shoaib Malik and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.
However, the one man long been singled out by the national cricket authorities to succeed Inzamam as captain, is Younis Khan. The 29-year-old batter has been groomed as a future captain for the last couple of years and has in fact stood in for Inzamam in a few Test and ODI matches in the past.
Barring the Champions trophy debacle, Younis has proved to be a good leader and is also one of the team’s most valuable players. He has scored 4291 runs from 53 Tests at an average of more than 48 and has played 151 one-dayers and accumulated 3988 runs.
When Inzamam announced in Kingston on March 18 that he was retiring from ODI cricket and resigning as captain, it was widely anticipated that Younis would be asked to take over the team’s command. Such an announcement is yet to come from the authorities.
The inside story is that Younis has conveyed to the people at the helm of national cricket affairs that he has decided against accepting the team’s captaincy. A man of few words, Younis has not spoken his mind over the issue but has confided in a few close friends that he doesn’t expect to get any support from a few senior players in case he is made captain.
Still fresh on his mind is the October episode when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made him captain for the ICC Champions Trophy because of Inzamam’s unavailability. At that time he refused to accept the job after complaining of being treated shabbily by the Board which quickly replaced him with experienced batsman Mohammad Yousuf. The incident sparked a major crisis and resulted in the ouster of the then PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan.
Dr Nasim Ashraf, Shaharyar’s successor, reinstated Younis as captain soon after taking over as PCB chief. Pakistan later crashed out of the opening round of the Champions Trophy following back-to-back defeats against South Africa and New Zealand.
The disastrous Champions Trophy campaign dented Younis’s reputation as a future Pakistan captain and the player himself had second thoughts about leading a team divided by self-interest.
It is an open secret that the Pakistani team is divided into three groups -ñ one that rallied around Inzamam in almost a Mafioso style, the second that opposed the alliance and the third which was neutral. Inzamam’s decision to continue playing Tests may mean that such a division would remain intact unless the PCB dismantles it with some bold steps.
Younis, according to the sources, is wary of the fact that the players close to Inzamam would gang up against him once he takes over as captain. He fears that such a situation would make the job of rebuilding the team following the World Cup disaster a very tough one and would also affect his position as one of the team’s leading batsman.
His reluctance to lead the team would create more headaches for the PCB officials who are currently gasping for oxygen to save their own skins.
