Why Younis Khan sulks

There has to be something terribly exacting about leading Pakistan. Younis Khan dreads it, finds the thought "scary." So much so that he feels the most coveted and honorable job in the game will hound him as long as he is playing.

You don't need a shrink to get to the root of his dilemma. It is quite apparent he has no faith both in the team as well as the establishment that has not the least regard for the leader and continues to be soft on an irreclaimable eccentric.

But it cannot be denied either that at times Younis tends to nurse wounds that are self-inflicted.

It is no hidden fact that the Pathan is a creature of extremes, at once good-humored and broody. The famous fisticuff with Inzamam-ul-Haq in the 2003 World Cup is not the only instance of his falling upon intemperate ways. The most trivial episode can make him hypersensitive, feel slighted and betrayed.

He refused to lead Pakistan in the Champions Trophy last year. Reason? A peon at the PCB office - he probably didn't know it was Younus - made him wait when he approached the chairman Shaharyar Khan with a request to reconsider the termination of an employee who had hit a financial low.

It convinced the Khan that it was futile being part of an establishment that could be obtusely cold-hearted. What was more, he summoned a press conference and made his grievance public.

Part of his problem stems from intolerance towards the ways of the Pakistan Cricket Board. To be fair to Younis, his grouse is not entirely unwarranted. The PCB is prone to strange vagaries.

In the middle of the just-concluded Indian Oil Cup, the PCB had awarded a two-year term to both Geoff Lawson and Shoaib Malik. Different vibes are emanating from the board following Pakistan's defeat in the Kotla Test. Already there are talks that the PCB may not necessarily honour the contract, which is now subject to the team's performance graph.

No skipper can steer the ship with a sword hanging over his head. Besides it is never easy to lead a side that is skillful but lopsided, zealous yet wayward, fiery but indiscreet.

Pakistan flourished as a world-class unit in the heady 80s not because of the system but despite it. It took a dour Imran Khan with a rare eye for talent to have his way. An anecdote goes that a selector threatened to resign when Imran pressed for Inzamam's inclusion in the 1992 World Cup. "We have tested him. He (Inzamam) is a proven failure," the selector bellowed. Imran would have none of it.

Younis does not have Imran's conviction, and he may not be a willing communicator. He chaffed at Shoaib Akhtar's inclusion in the Kolkata Test. As it turned out, a half-fit Akhtar, in his eagerness to profess loyalty to Pakistan cricket, did a great disservice to his skipper.

Any captain worth his salt would go to battle with full sail. It transpires that the Pakistan skipper wasn't allowed to have his say on Akhtar just as he wasn't consulted for the replacements flown in for the third Test. But if he can be forthright about it in print, why not thrash it out in the dressing room?

There is no doubt that Younis, whose integrity as a cricketer is unmistakable, is the best bet for the job in the Tests. Once on the field he shrugs off the past, is prepared to pamper Akhtar in view of the larger picture and displays a messianic sense of mission.

Having said that only a one-on-one dialogue can cure the rickety alliance between the PCB and the skipper.

Younis can mentor this team though he himself needs some mentoring from the board and a clarity of vision. Both must be prepared to shed the holier-than-thou attitude.