Younis Khan denies reviewing retirement decision

KARACHI: Record-breaking Pakistani batsman Younis Khan has denied that he is reconsidering his retirement, and rubbished speculations hinting that he may extend his international cricket career if the Pakistan Cricket Board and team ask him to review his decision. 

Earlier, there were speculations that he was reconsidering his retirement.

Confirming his retirement, Younis said that his statement relating retirement was wrongly portrayed and the tour of West Indies would be his last Test cricket career tour.

It is worth mentioning here that two weeks ago, Younis had announced his decision to retire at the end of the West Indies tour just after two days the Pakistani test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq made the same announcement.

Together the two batsmen brought close to 190 matches worth of experience to the side, with Younis on the verge of becoming the first Pakistan batsman to score 10,000 test runs.

However, the outgoing skipper Misbah in a column on Australia cricket website has written that the team still needed Younis and that he could continue playing for a year or two.

“I talked to him about it in Australia and told him that ‘You can play on’,” Misbah wrote. “Even though we have some very good youngsters in the team, the gap left by Younis’ absence will be difficult to fill.

“The Pakistan team will not just miss him as a batsman, they’ll also miss him as a mentor. He has been a terrific role model for everyone and it will be very tough to replace him. Every member of this team, including myself, has learnt a lot from him. He has changed our dressing room culture. If one wants to be successful in professional life, one only needs to regard Younis Khan’s organised and punctual lifestyle from breakfast to bed.”

Following the poor performance on the tour of Australia, the speculation around Misbah’ retirement had been more intense with a 0-3 series defeat than Younis Khan. After scoring an unbeaten 175 in the third Test in Sydney, Younis had said his future plans would depend on what the team needed from him.

However, in early April while announcing his retirement, Younis said, “No player always remains fit, the motivation never remains the same, so this is the time when Younis should leave the field after the upcoming series in West Indies.”

One of Pakistan’s modern batting greats, Younis’ 17-year-long Test career saw him play 115 Test matches with 9977 runs and 34 Test hundreds, the most by a Pakistan batsman. Younis’ personal best of 313 – against Sri Lanka in 2009 – is the third-highest score by a Pakistan batsman, after Hanif Mohammad’s 337 and Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 329.