Younis Khan hints at reconsidering retirement

One of the most decorated batsmen in Pakistan history Younis Khan dropped a hint that he may rethink his retirement plans if the team needs him. The batter had earlier announced that he will retire from the game of cricket after the three-match Test series against the West Indies.

But at the same time, Younis thinks that he could have hung on a bit more. But the batting legend feels that it is better to retire with his head held high rather than when people want him to. “I could have played more. But I think the right time to retire is when people want you to stay, not when they are thinking your time is up. So I think it is a good time for me retire,” he said.

The 39-year-old also said that he is ready to play again if his team needs his services. “Yeah, I will think about it. It all depends on if my team needs me. If they request me or people want me then why not? But it all depends on my team.”

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq who has also announced his retirement after the series against West indies still believes that Younis has it in him to play for a few years more. The right-handed batsman feels that though there are a lot of young talents in the Pakistan team it would be hard to fill in Younis’s boots.

“My personal feeling is that Pakistan still need Younis Khan and he can play for another year or two, but I’m not sure if others agree with me or not. I talked to him about it in Australia and told him that ‘you can play on’. Even though we have some very good youngsters in the team, the gap left by Younis’ absence will be difficult to fill.”

“The Pakistan team will not just miss him as a batsman, they’ll also miss him as a mentor. He has been a terrific role model for everyone and it will be very tough to replace him,” Misbah added.

Younis in his lengthy career of over 17 years has scored 9977 runs and looks like will become the first batsman in the history of Pakistan to reach 10,000 runs.