Younis Khan determined to make ODI return despite repeated snub

Karachi: The enigmatic Younis Khan who became Pakistan's highest Test run-scorer on Tuesday remains convinced he can play ODIs despite the snub he has got from the national selectors for the format since 2013.

Though the Pakistan Cricket Board heaped accolades on the former captain and senior batsman after he surpassed Javed Miandad's long-standing record of 8,882 Test runs the relationship between the two remains at the best "cordial."

In recent times Younis has minced no words in making his frustration clear at not being selected for one-day matches and more recently he was clearly offended when the PCB didn't invite him for the logo launch ceremony of the Pakistan Super League in Lahore.

Younis being Younis choose to come on national television and publicly express his disappointment and hurt at this snub from the board despite having captained the national T20 side that won the 2009 World T20 cup in England.

His public disclosure forced the PCB to quietly acknowledge that its office had bungled in not sending a proper invitation to Younis for the logo launch ceremony.

But such is Younis Khan's personality that apparently it was due to his accepting the PCB's version that the jobs of two officers responsible for the mess up was saved.

The hardworking and super fit Pathan from Mardan has remained a difficult personality to fathom in Pakistan cricket.

His enigmatic personality was perhaps the reason he backed out of the job of captaining Pakistan in the 2006 Champions Trophy only because the board Chairman (Shaharyar Khan) failed to grant him an audience on time.

It took a lot of convincing before Younis agreed to lead Pakistan in the event of Inzamam-ul-Haq's suspension by the ICC for forfeiting the test match at the Oval in 2006.

Three years down the line Younis walked out of the Pakistan captaincy midway through a series against New Zealand in the UAE just as the team was to depart to New Zealand and Australia for full series.

The reason he was unhappy at the way some players had formed a group and revolted against him. "Younis is one of our most hardworking and sincere players and when he came to me and told me he didn't want to lead the team anymore I knew it was useless forching him to do this in those circumstances," the than PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt told PTI.

"I never regretted the decision to appoint him as permanent captain in 2009 and he delivered because he is sincere for the team and Pakistan cricket. He does not believe in internal politics," Butt said. 

More recently he was furious when some former greats like Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja advised him to quit one-day cricket and focus on test matches.

"After 15 years of international cricket I don't need anyone to tell me what I should be doing," Younis retorted. His ally and mentor Rashid Latif believes that Younis has suffered because of his straight forward approach.

"Even I advised him before the World Cup it is best he quit one-day cricket but he has his own mind and he is convinced he can still contribute in 50-overs cricket," Latif said.

Younis on Monday night again highlighted his ambition of playing ODIs for Pakistan on a Geo News channel.

"I am ready to play one-day cricket. I know I can prove myself and be as successful as in tests if given a proper chance," Younis said.

But the selectors apparently have their own plans and chief selector Haroon Rasheed insists that they have not shut the door on Younis and whenever the need arises he will be considered for one-day matches.