Younis keen for partnership with Misbah to resume from where they left off in WI

Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan has expressed delight at head coach Misbah-ul-Haq's decision to appoint him as the national side's batting coach for the tour of England. The PCB on Tuesday (June 10) appointed Younis as the batting coach and Mushtaq Ahmed as the spin coach for the upcoming tour that will see Pakistan play three Tests and three T20Is. Younis, who enjoyed tremendous success alongside Misbah during their playing days is now hopeful of replicating the same.

"Misbah and I left cricket together, and what pleases me most is we left on a winning note by winning in the West Indies for the first time," Younis said via a video press conference. "He was captain and I was acting captain in a way, by constantly being in the ear of the bowlers. I would love to start off (from) where we finished in the West Indies. I'd love to share the dressing room with coaches who were my colleagues in cricket.

"I've played under bowling coach Waqar Younis's captaincy, as well as under Misbah ul Haq's captaincy and I was part of a team with Mushtaq Ahmed in the early 2000s. Those who learn from the past and move forward are successful. And we'd like to forget what happened in the past instead of resting on our achievements, and I feel proud to think Misbah chose me to be his partner in the coaching setup and be the side's batting coach in England."

A honest chat with the PCB CEO Wasim Khan on his exact role played a huge role in Younis accepting the offer as per his own admission. "Wasim Khan approached me in a very professional way," he said. "And I told him whatever my remit was, I needed to know upfront, and I am clear about what my role is. That's important because you need to know when to speak up and when to step aside. I left the Pakistan captaincy because I asked Ijaz Butt to appoint me captain for the 2011 World Cup. But when it looked like that wasn't working out, I voluntarily resigned from the captaincy."

Younis pointed out the need to make the younger players feel comfortable around the big guns and drew comparisons with his own career when he was welcomed with open arms by the senior pros when he got into the national side.

"The runs I scored and what I did in my career is over," he noted. "If I can serve this team well, then that will be a fresh achievement. What's important is to create a bond with these players. When I got into the side, I was warmly welcomed by a host of great players like Rashid Latif, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam ul Haq, and I want to serve these players and make them feel valuable just as I was made to feel valuable all those years ago. I don't want there to be an environment where a young player feels there's a big difference in status between me and them. I'd like to be their guide and role model."

The 42-year-old was also wary of a potential scenario where the inputs provided to the batting unit by him and Misbah can end up confusing the players if it's contradictory. In the absence of a batting coach since Grant Flower's departure, Misbah had only shouldered extra responsibility working with the batters and Younis is aware of that.

"What is important is I don't want the players to become double minded or end up giving them conflicting instructions," he said. "In the Pakistan batting lineup, Azhar Ali or Asad Shafiq aside, you see a very young team. It wouldn't help if we confused or over-coached them, and I wouldn't want to contradict what Misbah has taught them; I'd rather work within what Misbah's style is and work accordingly.

"Currently, I have a great opportunity. Misbah ul Haq has worked with this side for a year. So the fact that a top batsman has worked with these guys for a year makes the job easier for me. A year or so ago, the PCB tried to give Misbah a big responsibility, and now they've started to bring in support staff like myself and Mushtaq Ahmed."

Even though he conceded that there isn't a lot of time for him to work with the players considering the forced restrictions in place, Younis is still hopeful of attaining success in England, a place where he managed to average over 50 in his career.

"I don't want to make excuses by saying I don't have enough time, but these are unusual times," he observed. "Even if you are to engage with players, you need to keep your distance from them and continue to follow SOPs. We couldn't even conduct our training camp as normal, and even when we travel we will have to keep our distance from other players.

"I want to try and get my experience across to the players and for them to be able to benefit from it in the short time we have between now and the England tour. Where there's a will, a lot can be achieved in a very short span of time."