Pakistan Players Deliberately Played Badly In Conspiracy Against Younis Khan: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

Pakistan cricket and controversy go hand-in-hand. From Umar Akmal’s sentencing, Zulqarnain Haider’s revelation about his disappearing act in 2010 during a series to Shoaib Akhtar’s feud with PCB’s legal advisor, a number of controversies have surfaced in the last few days.

And now, former Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has further extended the list of controversies with a sensational revelation. The former pacer has claimed that several Pakistani players plotted against former skipper and batting great Younis Khan during the ODI series against New Zealand in 2009.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan has alleged that several senior Pakistan players ‘deliberately’ under-performed to put a blot on Younis’ captaincy report card as they were not pleased with the then skipper’s leadership.

The Pakistan pacer played as many as nine Test matches 74 One Day Internationals (ODI) and 4 T20Is for the national side. Recalling the 2009 tour with Pakistan, Rana opened up on the two ODIs that the team played against the Kiwis in UAE. He claimed that Pakistan lost both the games at the hands of the Black Caps because some seniors players refused to perform under Younis’ captaincy.

“We lost two ODI matches against New Zealand in UAE during 2009 because some of the players involved deliberately did not play well. I sat out that tour. I did not play because I had told Younis Khan that this was the conspiracy against you and that I am also a part of that plot,” Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan went on to explain that there were some senior players in the team then who may have had aspirations of being captain themselves, adding that there were “about seven to eight people involved” in the plot.

“This was not a rebellion against Younis Khan. He was a good cricketer, there were no issues except that when he became captain, he became a different person,” he said.

He further said that he would not expose the players involved before revealing that the players took an oath of allegiance once, saying that they wanted the PCB chairman to reason with Younis.

“They said we don’t want him to be removed but we would like the PCB Chairman to reason with Younis Khan as he does not take advice of seniors as captain and does what he feel likes doing,” said Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.

The former fast-bowler represented Pakistan in nine Tests and picked 18 wickets at an average of 58. In ODIs, he claimed 110 wickets in 74 games at an average of 29.28 and an economy rate of 5.57. He played his last match for Pakistan in February 2010.

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