'If you speak the truth, you are considered as a mad man': Younis Khan on why he decided to quit as Pakistan captain

A few months after leading his side to a WT20 win in 2009, Younis Khan had decided to quit from his captaincy. Now opening about why he took such a decision, the former Pak skipper said that differences with some of the players in the team affected his time as captain.

A few months after leading his side to a WT20 win in 2009, Younis Khan had decided to quit from his captaincy. Now opening about why he took such a decision, the former Pak skipper said that differences with some of the players in the team affected his time as captain.

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

The former Pakistan batsman also spoke about the advice he received from Pakistan legend Javed Miandad. ”During my playing days, I had Miandad as a coach. As someone who was a master of the big hundreds himself, he used to tell me that once you reach 100, think you are starting from zero.

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“This may sound like a cliche but it’s quite a difficult thing to do as it needs a great deal of mental fitness – along with physical fitness,” he said.

Khan was one of the best middle-order batsmen of the 21st century, having scored 10,099 runs with 34 centuries at an average of 52.05 in Test cricket.

Apart from his brilliant Test record, he also played 265 ODIs for Pakistan in which he scored 7,240 runs at an average of 31.24. He also played 25 T20Is in which he scored 442 runs.