While the debate will continue unabated for days on Younis Khan’s controversial return to Pakistan ODI squad, it certainly has raised questions over the level of trustworthiness of the system in which such decisions are made.

Everyone had taken for granted that the chapter of Younis as a one-day player was seemingly closed after he was unceremoniously ditched after the conclusion of the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. His selection for the mega event itself was shrouded in controversy after the senior stalwart of Pakistan cricket had delivered a hard-hitting tirade at the selectors of the time in an emotional media briefing when he was overlooked for the ODI series against Australia in the UAE three months before World Cup.

“How can they [selectors] treat a senior player like this? I want to play in the World Cup. How can they say players like me have no future? I ask you: who has a future then? If they think I’m not needed, then I have no choice left but to shoot myself,” Younis had said then. “If the selectors claim that players like me are not in their future plans then I must consider not playing and leave Pakistan.”

He was subsequently recalled for the one-dayers when New Zealand toured UAE but apart from scoring his first ODI century – after a yawning gap of six years, Younis had a modest series against the Black Caps while provided ammunition to the growing list of critics who had already written off Younis as a one-day player.

The selectors of a previous PCB regime had axed Younis from the one-day side following the tour of South Africa in March 2013. But when he wasn’t selected thereafter until August 2014, interim board chief Najam Sethi intervened to overrule the selectors and have him included in the squad for Sri Lanka one-dayers. But to his sheer ill-luck, Younis was forced out of the Sri Lanka series after the first of three matches because of a family bereavement and had to rush home.

There is never any doubt about the status that Younis holds in the Test team where he is the linchpin of a Pakistan batting line-up which has scaled new heights in familiar UAE conditions. As long as he desires, there is no chance of Younis getting sidelined from the Test XI unless he is drastically short of runs or has fitness issues.

Scoring eight hundreds from his last 15 Test matches at an average of 68.68 speak volume of Younis’s true value in the longer format. Despite aging on with a 39th birthday approaching on Nov 29, Younis has no peers in the current Test team.

However, with due respects, Younis surely cannot be his own judge when it comes to one-day team selections, certainly not at the cost of rebuilding process. If he feels he has had been maltreated then he should not impose himself on everyone else by repeatedly expressing his wish to play in a format where he is no more an automatic inclusion.

By recalling Pakistan’s highest run-getter in Test cricket, the selectors have simply succumbed to the pressure, both from outside and within the cricket board ranks.

One does not need rocket science to understand how clumsily Pakistan cricket functions when even the top bosses have often wore the chief selector’s hat and poked their noses into selection matters, an absurd luxury given by the cricket board constitution. One cannot recall any of Pakistan squads — be it Test, ODI, T20, ‘A’ team or even Under-19 ones — being independently announced without the mandatory approval of the sitting board chairman.

There is no point harping about what Younis achieved in One-day Internationals since the 2011 World Cup but his graph has been on the decline from there onwards.

By going back on Younis, the selectors and the team management are left with no choice but to sacrifice the likes of Sohaib Maqsood – now happily restored to full fitness and playing in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship – and even Asad Shafiq. Sohaib and Asad stand a better chance of playing at the ODI level in the period leading to the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Regressive steps have always hurt Pakistan cricket and the latest one will just add to the pain. Why can’t Younis take a leaf out of Shoaib Malik’s book? After returning to the Test fold after more than five years in the just-ended England series, Malik needed just three games to realize where he stood and made a sensible move.

If Younis is having the intentions just as Malik did and wishes to quit one-day cricket on his own terms, then he will have the opportunity during the upcoming fixtures to do so, considering his status and the yeoman services he has had rendered for Pakistan cricket.

Senior pros deserve to get the respects just like they are in other nations, but unfortunately in our sporting culture, there are very sporadic instances when an individual has made the tough call at the opportune moments. Javed Miandad, for one, got it all wrong when he became obsessed with a burning desire to prolong his career by another World Cup and cut a sorry figure in 1996 when age finally caught with him. Then instead of being a senior man worth his presence, Miandad in fact became a liability for the team.

Without playing with the sentiments of any player, the cricket board must develop a culture of tolerance to avoid unnecessary fuss. The selectors should not only have more powers and better understanding with the team management, they should have the courage to take into confidence the player(s) they intend to overlook for selection.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2015

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