According to an official close to Younus, the veteran batsman would rather play for Pakistan without rewarded the fee from the central contracts than lose his self-respect. PHOTO: AFP
Former Pakistan captain Younus Khan has decided against signing the new central contract that sees him demoted to the B category. Those involved in the contract committee include chief selector Moin Khan, Mohammad Akram and Zakir Khan.
Younus has played 89 Tests, 253 ODIs and 25 T20Is for Pakistan, while leading the country to the 2009 World Twenty20 title. The Express Tribune has learnt that Younus feels disgruntled by the demotion and would rather play without any contract than to accept the current terms.
“Younus is really angry and disappointed about being given B category and has decided not to sign it,” said an official close to Younus.
“For him, the most important thing is his self-respect, and he is willing to play for Pakistan without getting remuneration from the central contracts.”
‘Committee was warned by PCB Chairman’
A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official has revealed that the contract committee was warned by chairman Najam Sethi that their decision would backfire.
“The first thing Sethi did when he was presented the contracts for approval was to point out Younus’ demotion to B category,” stated the official. “However, Moin, Akram and Zakir all stressed that it was the right move according to the new categorisation formula.
“For them, the next step should be to answer the critics since it was their decision.”
National team members show support
It has been also learnt that a revolt is already on the cards as several established and young players of the Pakistan team will forego signing their contracts in protest over Younus’ treatment.
One of the senior players has already conveyed these sentiments to Moin and Sethi while the rest will follow suit soon.
According to them, Younus deserves to be in A category for his services to Pakistan.
“Younus has always been a fighter all his life and has done so much for Pakistan,” said a senior player. “He deserves to get A category, even if he only plays Test cricket.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 8th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (14)
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Correct decision by Younis Khan. The complete team should boycott.
@Zeeshan Ali: in other words you say demote all the Pakhtoon players and only punjabees deserve to be in our national team.
The case of Younas is a funny one. He believes he is really good but the performance does not prove it. His behaviour on & off the field is aslo eccentric. He always has this odd smile on his face for no reason. In brief , he is just an average player by today standards who has not improved with time. This is not to say he is the only one as a number of players in the same category of below average and irresponsible performances
Wait, don't let the position stay vacant, Najam Sethi will run to grab it and appoint himself to this category B player list too; He is allergic to vacant positions and runs himself to fill in;
Dear Fawad & Khan Shahzaib,
It's not his ego, but self respect. He hasn't refused to play, but to play without getting the remunerations. Before criticizing him for his performance in ODIs, just confirm if he is part of ODI Team? He is playing Tests only and his statistics speaks of his performances.
With the same logic, Afridi does not play test cricket? So why is he in A category
Demote Shahid Afridi and Junaid Khan as well. There performances were also not consistant in every format they played. Injustice as usual at its best in Pakistan Cricket. How come one individual is holding two positions in PCB. Is he taking a salary for one position this also needs to be clarified since as per @fawad NO individual is bigger then the country and the institution.
PCB can give category A to Hafeez who performs nothing and not to Younis Khan who is the best test player for Pakistan in the current team.
@Khan Shahzaib: Cricket is a team game and no single player contributes to a loss or a victory. Going by your comment, no player in our current side deserves to be in Category A apart from maybe Saeed Ajmal.
I don't have a problem if any player is demoted, but the criteria has to be same for everyone. If Younis has retired from T20s, Afridi has done so in Test cricket, so the latter should also be demoted. It is nice to see that senior and junior cricketers are standing by him.
replace afridi with younus in catagory A
Younus Khan desrves to be awarded category A. There is no question in what format he is being played. He was the captian of T20 Word Cup 2009 team. Furthermore, he must be included in ODI squad for world cup.
If we go by the statistics, Younis Khan’s performance in important matches like the last three ODI world cups has been extremely low and he has been a big contributor in team’s losses. No player should be given extra benefits if he does not perform. I think this is the right decision by the PCB. Also, Younis should not take it as an insult and try to show better performance instead…
No individual is bigger then the country and the institution. The board should stand by its decision irrespective of the consequences. Younis have played the game with lot of honour and grace and he should leave with grace and set the right example. He should talk to the board of his grievances but not make them public or political. if the board does not accommodate he should still keep the country, the institution and the game above his personal grievance. He is great cricketer and should set the right examples.