 Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan, who was one of the seven Pakistani
players to have received a penalty by the PCB after the tour of Australia and
was banned indefinitely by the PCB has said that he was not at fault and that
he was banned without a second chance. Younis also said that he was looking to
make his comeback into the international team.
Speaking in front of the investigators to whom he has appealed to, he said,
"I was banned without being given a chance to clarify my position and I
want justice because I want to play for my country again." Pakistan had
gone on to lose all their games on that tour of Australia, including five ODIs,
three Test matches and one T20I.
Younis Khan, who was the captain of the side for the ICC World T20 last year
and the Champions Trophy as well, then relinquished his captaincy, but was selected
to play under Mohammad Yousuf. He barely scored any runs in the ODIs
and was generally way below par with his performances. Younis and Yousuf were
then both banned indefinitely and the reason why Younis was banned was for creating
infighting within the team.
Younis Khan has said that it wasn't true that he had had a hand in trying to
create rifts within the team, and that he ahd contrived to cause problems during
the captaincy of Shoaib Malik either. He said, "I pointed out problems
within the team to the PCB and they banned me. Shoaib Malik thought that
I contrived to replace him as captain, which wasn't true. My career has been
derailed because of this ban and although I am getting offers to play in England
and South Africa, I want to play for my country, for my people."
The chairman of PCB, Ejaz Butt was surprisingly supportive of Younis Khan,
and he said that Younis was one of the most patriotic cricketers to have played
for Pakistan. He also added that Younis Khan's career was stalled because of
some ridiculous match-fixing allegations against him. During the Champions Trophy,
Pakistan had lost to Australia in the first round and then, Younis had dropped
a catch in the semi-final to go down to New Zealand in the semi-final. This
had given rise to speculations within the Pakistan Parliament that the
former captain had been involved in match fixing and he was summoned in front
of the Parliament.
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