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Younis Khan, the former captain of Pakistan, has criticized the country’s cricket infrastructure as a major factor behind Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He highlighted the lack of adequate replacements for out-of-form players and expressed concern over the absence of a viable successor to Babar Azam as team captain.
Babar Azam has been the subject of scrutiny in recent months, especially following Pakistan’s failure to advance to the semi-finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup. In the recently concluded 2024 T20 World Cup, Pakistan’s campaign ended prematurely with a group stage exit, underscoring their struggles to progress to the Super 8 stage.
Younis Khan criticizes Pakistan’s infrastructure for their poor showing in the T20 World Cup 2024.
During a discussion on a local sports program, Younis Khan was questioned about Pakistan’s recent disappointments in ICC tournaments. The seasoned Pakistan batsman responded thoughtfully, shifting the focus away from individual players and instead attributing the team’s struggles to the broader cricketing infrastructure in Pakistan.
“We give our views very quickly. If we talk about our current team, the players don’t have a fault. Instead, I will blame the infrastructure. If we don’t have the back-up, how will you replace the (out of form) players?” Younis argued.
Younis Khan went further to suggest that Pakistan lacks viable alternatives to Babar Azam. He pointed fingers at past cricketing administrations for their failure to develop robust infrastructure, which in turn hindered the nurturing of a strong bench strength.
“We generally speak that Babar Azam should not be the captain. If not Babar Azam, who else should be the captain? That’s not Babar Azam’s fault. Neither this is the current selection committee’s fault. This is the fault of something that happened 5-6 years back. We should have built our bench strength,” Younis said.
“Actually the changes are happening so quickly. The chairman, captain, and even our government has changed so quickly. So, who will do the planning? This has happened from the last ten years,” he added.
