Dental treatment dents PCB, Younis Khan’s relationship

A dental treatment and strained relationship between Younis Khan and the top Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials was the reason behind the former’s resignation as the batting coach of the Men in Green.

Younis was appointed, for a period of two years, in November 2020 but he stepped down from his role few days back.

According to sources, a training camp for cricketers who were not participating and HBL PSL 6, along with domestic performers, began on June 7 at the National High Performance Centre, in Lahore. The camp was led by Saqlain Mushtaq, along with other NHPC coaches. For assistance, Head Coach Misbahul Haq and Shaheens’ coach Ijaz Ahmed were also invited. However, the name of Younis Khan was not considered for the camp. Later, on Misbah’s request, Younis joined the camp for three days where he gave lectures to the players.

When PCB informed players and officials to report on June 20, in the bio-bubble, ahead of England tour, Younis decided against joining the squad as he had to go through a dental treatment. He was also angry on the fact that PCB did not take him into confidence before deciding the date for joining the squad. The PCB had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which is why change in schedule was not an option at the eleventh hour.    

PCB CEO Wasim Khan also spoke to Younis on the matter and offered him to join the squad for West Indies tour and skip the England series. Younis rejected this offer and insisted that he will travel with the squad for both tours or else he will reign. Due to the deadlock, both parties had no option but to mutually terminate the contract.

Sources also revealed that the relationship between PCB and Younis Khan was strained, even before this incident, as he had a heated exchange with a top board official, atleast thrice, in the past few months.

Younis had also insisted on adding a clause in his contract that he will have the option of terminating it, like PCB, whenever he wants. He had also asked the board to pay him the same salary as Misbah.

Younis was also accused of leaking team lineups to his friends in media before matches.

PCB has already made it clear, in their press release, that they will not comment any further on the matter, while there was no response from Younis when approached.