Is it team or individual?

Younus Khan raises his bat after a match saving innings against the Proteas on the penultimate day of the Dubai Test

Like Express Tribune rightly mentioned, Younus Khan Returns and returns with a bang of course. His brilliant knock made me wonder what Pakistan COULD have achieved on their marathon tour of England earlier this year, had Younus been a part of the tour, which is not worth mentioning, things could have been slight better. Although I am not saying he’s a God or something, but the mental toughness he possesses, could help the youngsters raising their game standard upto that mark. Specially when the team is only with one specialist batsman apart from the skipper Misbah ul Haq himself, as MoYo has been ruled out of the tour thanks to the injury, there should be damn pressure on the shoulders to lead from the front.

But the main point according to me is that, again what’s life AFTER YOUNUS KHAN AND MOYO? Do we have specialist batsmen on the bench who could replace them as soon as they retire? Do they have a plan B or something who are of the standard of MoYo, YK and Abdul Razzaq, who could single handily wins us the match from the grasp of the defeat couple of nights ago in Abu Dhabi and some months ago at Lord’s against the Home Team? Obviously not. Although I don’t see a bleak future, but the talent should be shined and had to put under extreme conditions so that their mental toughness could be measured, as what I personally feel, the newer ones are vastly talented but the main problem is their mental toughness. Although some might not agree with me, ugly enough but Azhar Ali could improve and cement his position in the National Test side, as he has the caliber to stay on the wicket, although I must admit, he’s limited in shots, but that thing suits him as he knows what are his limitations so he keeps inside his limitations, instead of some other players (don’t wanna mention their names), who try to create sensation by hitting aerial shots, one or two times they could succeed but another time they would surely fail, as test cricket requires staying on the wicket, although there are hurdles like opposing team players sledging on you for diverting your attention. Being a student, its just like you’re giving your examination with complete concentration, and suddenly your fellow pokes you just to ask for some hint or something, but it also results breaking of your concentration, that’s what is mental toughness and you’re required to be steadfast on your work instead of diverting your concentration.

Same thing showed by YK on the penultimate day, although Proteas did tried their best to divert his attention but he stood his ground, and that’s the lesson should be learnt by the youngsters who want to improve their game. On the other hand, YK did showed to the PCB bosses, that he was the requirement of the Pakistani Middle Order and those who wanted YK to be included into the team were not wrong.

Cheers…