A captain’s travails

Just when things began to calm down in Pakistan cricket, Younis Khan raised a storm by refusing the captaincy and a few hours later doing a U-turn.

After almost two years of relative stability, Pakistan cricket has plunged back into the familiar territory of discontent and despair. The imbroglio caused the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan to quit and led to the sacking of assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed.
Younis claimed that he would not be a ‘dummy’ captain and swore not to lead Pakistan again. After the U-turn, Younis claimed total allegiance to banned skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq.
All this has become a big joke really. The good work done by Bob Woolmer, Inzamam and Shahryar has been undone by the whim and fancy of a fine cricketer like Younis.
For once like a set piece, the captaincy was bound to come to Younis once the ageing Inzamam calls it a day. As his deputy, Younis had done enough to win the admiration of many former cricketers and critics.
Younis is yet to clarify why he was a dummy captain. Now, we probably will never know. But Younis must consider himself lucky that no disciplinary action was taken against him.
The sacking of Mushtaq is also mystifying. The leg-spinner had a great year in the English county season, leading Sussex to a championship title with over 100 wickets.
It seems that a judge overseeing the old match fixing scandal had recommended that Mushtaq be not given any post in Pakistan cricket.
The match-fixing scandal has been dead and buried a long time ago. Mushtaq has paid for it by being kept out of the Pakistan team when at his peak.
His sacking is certainly a knee-jerk reaction to the captaincy controversy. Pakistan will be the loser, as Mushtaq seemed to gel well with the team.
It should also not be forgotten that former star player Zaheer Abbas was also shown the door after being manager of the team to England. It is alleged that he was sacked because of his non-action during the fourth day of Oval Test.
After scoring a moral victory in the ball tampering scandal, Pakistan had everything to look forward to. Their cricket was getting better by the day and they were one of the favourites in the Champions Trophy.
If history is anything to go by, then Pakistan will certainly suffer after this controversy. It may be possible that some more skeletons will come out of the cupboard.
One hopes for Pakistan cricket’s sake that the unity of the team is not disturbed. The game is more important than the individual.