Younis Khan is unlikely to captain Pakistan, not at least under the current administration. Younis declined the captaincy when it was offered to him after the World Cup, the second time he had walked away from the position in the last seven months.
Younis had been Pakistan’s vice-captain for the two years leading into the Caribbean tournament and was widely expected to take over the lead role from Inzamam-ul-Haq. He was eventually convinced to lead Pakistan during the Champions Trophy last year by Nasim Ashraf, the board chairman, after having walked away from the post the previous day. He was the preferred choice of many, including Ashraf before Shoaib Malik was appointed.
While fully backing Malik’s appointment, Ashraf expressed his disappointment at Younis’s decision to scupper the board’s succession plan. “To be honest, yes *,” he told Cricinfo.
“Younis had been groomed for this position and he also deserved an automatic place in the team, just like Shoaib Malik,” he added. “Younis has got leadership quality and it was part of a succession plan that the board had put in place. When he did that after the World Cup, I think it was because of personally taking that performance to heart too much and he was mentally I think depressed about it.” By suggesting that Malik could remain captain for the next three World Cups, Ashraf has seemingly closed the door on Younis returning as captain at least under his tenure.
Since the decision, Younis has been playing for Yorkshire, choosing to make himself unavailable for the Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka. His refusal to play in the three-match series and be unavailable till September for Pakistan, while turning out for a county side, irked the PCB officials.
But Ashraf asserted that though he will appear for Pakistan again, he will not lead them. “Obviously he won’t be captain, that has been decided. But in terms of playing I hope that he makes himself available and that he continues to play for Pakistan.”
Ashraf revealed that Younis had sought, and been granted, permission to be unavailable till September, but added, “I want to also make it clear that people have to make themselves available first for Pakistan and then for anything else.”
Ashraf also cleared up the confusion surrounding Shoaib Akhtar’s withdrawal from the Afro-Asia Cup. Shoaib had initially said he was keen and fit to play for the Asia squad, though he had also preferred to skip the Abu Dhabi series. He was subsequently dropped from the Asia side on fitness grounds and Ashraf confirmed that the Shoaib was not fully fit yet.
“If anybody is not fit to play for Pakistan they are not fit to play elsewhere. Shoaib Akhtar had told me he was not fit to play in Abu Dhabi. He told me that he would be fit by September and that is a great motive for him. We didn’t want him to get injured in the Afro-Asia tournament. But our policy is very clear: if you are not fit to play for Pakistan you cannot play anywhere else.”
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
balley balley
I am glad that Younis is not even part of the team, if at all he could come back into test squad as a batsman, thats it. I never considered him an ODI batsman and recently he has shown mental instability so I would say it is a good thing for!
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
Ashraf also says this in the Cricinfo Interview : http://content-gulf.cricinfo.com/pakistan/content/current/story/296540.html We are exploring the position of fielding coach too, maybe from baseball. I went to the US and made some inquiries. Their season is in progress right now so everybody has contracts. But they promised to give me some names. We are also looking at some other countries where baseball is developed like Japan and Cuba.
So he is even open to getting a Japanese or a Cuban from Baseball as the fielding Coach !!
I don’t get it…why is he obsessed with getting a fielding coach from Baseball. Is it just because he wants to show-off his foreign and baseball ties.
I don’t understand…is fielding in Baseball much more challenging than in Cricket. As far as I can tell, it is actually the other way around.
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
a little bit off topic, Have you guys ever observe one thing about younis khan, Always keeps himslef smiling ..... even when he walk down to dressing room after getting out.... lolzzz
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
He is so obsessed with it coz Aussies do it the same way … especially the throw from deep and diving stop plus quick return … but diving is something that can only be done on grounds where u don’t run the danger of bruising … watching the dry and hard outfields of our stadia this is something hard to come by
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
Younis as a potential captain, Younis as a batsman. Apples and oranges. No matter how much of a bad rep he gets from his drama, he is one of the top class batsman in the world. I would put him alongside Mike Hussey and Kevin Pietersen, flashy and realiable. World cup has tainted his reputation, but everyone deserves another chance.
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
I have played both Baseball and cricket, but I do believe fielding in baseball is more difficult than it is in cricket. Yes I agree glove helps and baseball fly balls travel much slower when it goes high in the air hence its easier to judge but regardless of it, its very difficult to catch a popout. Can u just imagin if a cricketer can throw as accurately as a baseball infielder or an outfielder how many runouts we can get and runs we can save.
I think PCB should do whatever to improve fielding even if that means hiring a baseball fielding coach. Diving is not the only part of fielding, anticipating the ball coming towards you, catching high fly balls and accurate throws to the wickets are all part of fielding and a good coach can help u improve in that dept.
Re: Younis unlikely to be considered for captaincy
Can u just imagin if a cricketer can throw as accurately as a baseball infielder or an outfielder how many runouts we can get and runs we can save.
.... accurate throws to the wickets are all part of fielding and a good coach can help u improve in that dept.
Paaji that's exactly what i meant.
Well to be honest i didn't play baseball myself but use to watch it ever since i live in Germany (20 years by now) and boy their throws r staight as an arrow and above all accurate to the point.
About anticipation just watch a few min of Jonty on youtube and u know how to go about ..... i remember Holding talking about fielding (while commentating AUS vs. SAF in AUS) from Slip to Point ...... he said that a fundamental thing for the fielders at those positons r to watch either the bat or the ball .....
e. g. A Slip fielder should move and watch the ball like the Wicketkeeper does .....
A fielder at Gully or Point should watch the Bat til the point of impact and then follow the ball .....
I tried the latter one and to my surprise i caught the ball at both positions well without any trouble (some 2 weeks ago in a local match) ..... At Gully i caught an uppercut which was travelling at some speed and at Point a leading edge
