Younis Khan: I Lost Captaincy For Speaking The Truth

Younis Khan is a tall figure but carries his stature with utmost grace. He scored the most runs for Pakistan in the longest format beside carrying the team to their only second World title in 2007. Younis Khan. however, had a tumultuous time as a captain as he saw many ups and downs while leading the national team.

Younis Khan led Pakistan Test and ODI side for the first time in 2005. He was offered a full-time captaincy role in 2006 following the suspension of Inzamam-ul-Haq but he declined saying that he does not wants to be a ‘dummy captain’. However, his cricket board, appointed him the captain in 2006 and he was given a permanent role after Inzamam-ul-Haq resigned in 2007. He, however, turned down the role blaming the angry national team fans. He was finally appointed the permanent captain of the Test and ODI team in 2009.

Khan resigned as a captain in October 2009 after an investigation broke out for alleged match-fixing during his time.

Younis Khan: You often face a situation in life where if you speak the truth, you are considered as a madman

Revisiting his captaincy days in an interview, Younis Khan said, that he lost his captaincy for being honest. He also said that his fault was pointing out to a group of players that were not putting enough effort for the nation, referring to the alleged conspiracy plotted against him by six-seven players during the 2009 ODI series against New Zealand.

“You often face a situation in life where if you speak the truth, you are considered as a madman. My fault was pointing out to a group of players that they were not pushing themselves hard enough for the country,” Younis Khan told Gulf News.

“The players were, however, regretful later and we played for teammates long enough after that. I know I had nothing wrong for it’s a lesson that I had learnt from my father to always speak the truth and always remain humble,” Younis added.

Khan retired with 10099 runs in Tests and over 7000 in ODIs.