You are considered a madman if you speak truth: Former Pakistan skipper reveals reason behind leaving captaincy
Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan has opened up about the time when he decided to quit as Pakistan captain just a few months after leading his side to a WT20 win in 2009. The former Pakistan middle order great was one of the best batsmen of the 21st century, having scored 10,099 runs with 34 centuries at an average of 52.05 in Test cricket. But differences with some of the players in the team affected his time as captain of the team.
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 players were, however, regretful later and we played as teammates long enough after that. I knew I had done nothing wrong for it’s a lesson that I had learned from my father – to always speak the truth and always remain humble,” Younis said.
The former Pakistan batsman also opened up on the words of advice he received from Pakistan legend Javed Miandad. On being asked what advice he would give the current generation of players, he said:”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.
“This may sound like a cliche but it’s quite a difficult thing to do as it needs a great deal of mental fitness – alongwith physical fitness,” he said.
Apart from his brilliant Test record, Younis 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.
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