Senior Pakistan batsman and former captain Younus Khan along with the current skipper Misbah-ul-Haq on Tuesday promised a special send-off to the outgoing coach Waqar Younis, who will be stepping down from his post after the team’s tour to Zimbabwe next month.
Younus during a function here said he and the team wanted to win the upcoming series to give Waqar a victorious send-off.
“Waqar has worked hard with the team and every player and it is disappointing he has to leave as coach because of personal reasons. But the team is very keen to do well for him in his last series as coach,” Younus said. Waqar had earlier left Pakistan cricket in a shock with his decision to step down as the coach after the Zimbabwe tour citing personal and health reasons.
Misbah told reporters that the team would miss Waqar’s services.
“Though, the team was shocked by the sudden announcement, they want to do well in the coming series and win it for the outgoing coach,” the captain said.
Younus, though, reiterated it would be foolhardy to underestimate the Zimbabweans at any stage but insisted if the team played to its potential it could win the series.
He also made it clear that he had no intentions of an early retirement and would only think about coaching when the time comes.
While the two senior players in the Pakistan side, Misbah and Younus, have praised the efforts of Waqar as coach, former captain Shahid Afridi has often criticised the former speedster and has openly highlighted his differences with him.
Afridi also reacted rather strongly to the news about Waqar’s resignation not sparing any words of consolation or praise for him, although, the two worked together for a long time including the 2011 World Cup before a fall out on the West Indies tour. The difference in the opinion among the senior cricketers regarding Waqar has led the analysts to negate claims by Afridi that he helped the team gel together as captain and that he and his players all worked well in unison. Afridi, in a protest, retired from all forms of international cricket in May after the Board removed him as captain of the ODI team in the wake of publicising his differences with Waqar on several issues.
