Do you think that Pakistan captain Younis Khan should retire from international cricket, leaving the captaincy to all rounder Shahid Afridi? Well, former Pakistan pacer Sarfaraz Nawaz feels so as he believes that Younis Khan has failed to become a good captain, citing Pakistan’s recent test series defeat to Sri Lanka. Mr. Sarfaraz thinks that the senior players like Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have nothing to deliver for Pakistan and that is why, they should retire from international cricket in order to make way for the new players.
Well, I do not agree with Sarfaraz Nawaz at all because Pakistan still needs the experienced players like Younis and Yousuf, and I do not think that Younis Khan failed as a captain. Just look at the way he led Pakistan to win the Twenty20 world cup this year. I agree that Younis does not fit to the twenty20 format, but he has retired from the shortest version. Pakistan cricket was struggling before the twenty20 world cup, and there was hardly anybody who could imagine that Pakistan would win world twenty20 title this year before the start of the tournament.
Another thing I would like to share with you is the fact that Younis Khan has a very good relationship with most of the senior players like Shahid Afridi. After winning the man of the match awards for two match-winning performances in the semi final and final of the world twenty20, Afridi revealed that Younis Khan had accept his request to allow him to bat in the top order. Moreover, Yousuf, who earlier said that he had problems with previous captain Shoaib Malik, has also reveled that he is happy to play under Younis Khan. So, it shows that the team is united on and off the field, and this is very important in a team game. If you look at the previous captains of Pakistan team, you can see that many had problems with other senior players. Here, let us mention two great players: Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. So, I think, it would be a big mistake if PCB attempts to replace Younis Khan by Shahid Afridi.