The PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) has relieved Shoaib Malik from the post of captain and has selected Younis Khan as the new skipper of the Pakistan national cricket team. In the past, Khan has turned down the offer of captaincy twice. At present, he had acceded to be the Test as well as ODI (One Day International) captain. Sri Lanka would tour Pakistan and play two Test matches in the current season and this would be his first assignment.
On Saturday (24th January 2009), Pakistan suffered one of its worst ODI loss to Sri Lanka. This defeat was followed by meetings between the senior officials of the team management, of the PCB and Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman. All the officials agreed that Malik should be asked to step down. There was also a meeting between Butt and Khan, which lasted for 15 minutes and during it the offer of captaincy was made.
Statements made by PCB officials
At the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Butt told reporters that initially Malik was asked to step down as captain. He acceded and then Khan was appointed as the new skipper. The reason of doing so was that the performance of the Pakistan cricket team was not great. It was not a question of winning but of performance. The team did not simply loose to Sri Lanka, but it performed poorly. So, Khan was chosen as the captain of the Test as well as ODI teams. Another official of the PCB said that no tenure had been decided regarding Khan’s captaincy as this is the way the PCB operates. However, all the officials felt that something had to be done to improve the team and there was a consensus regarding the removal of Malik and appointment of Khan.
Selection of Khan
Younis Khan has been looked upon as a natural choice to lead the team. The reason is that he had created a good impression when he was a vice captain to Inzamam-ul-Haq for two years. However, he rejected the offer of captaincy twice. In October 2006, he walked out of a press conference while saying that he did not wish to be a dummy captain. After the 2007 Cricket World Cup, he again rejected the post. Hence, it was uncertain whether he would agree to be the captain. However, it is said that over a period of one year, he altered his opinion and voiced a wish to be the captain. It was thought that he would set some terms and conditions to accept this responsibility. However, one of the officials of the PCB said that at present no terms and conditions have been set. The offer was made and he accepted it.
Malik’s shortcomings
The removal of Malik was being speculated for some time. The reason was that his win-loss record in ODIs was impressive against weak teams only. He was less successful against important teams and this fact was emphasized by the defeat against Sri Lanka. He was also unable to create a rapport with senior members of the team. After Mohammad Yousuf joined the ICL (Indian Cricket League), he criticized Khan openly.