Waqar Younis dissatisfied with Younis' retirement timing

Pakistan coach isn't happy

Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s coach believes that Younis Khan should have taken more time with his decision to quit from International ODIs according to ESPNCricinfo. Younis Khan, the senior most member of Pakistan ODI team retired after the first ODI in the series against England.

Waqar was dissatisfied by Younis’ decision to retire just after the first match of the series. Younis was called upon for an International ODI for the first time after the World Cup and he made his first the last one in Abu Dhabi. He made only 9 runs before he got out in first ODI.

“Reality demanded that he should have completed the series. But that is the way he thinks and he is, I am very proud of the way he played the game," Waqar told reporters in Sharjah. "He will continue to play Test cricket and I am hopeful that he will complete 10,000 Test runs but it was an unfortunate way [to retire] and the decision was sudden and that was a big shock for us."

Waqar’s comments came on the back of England thumping Pakistan in the second ODI and he was surprised by the way the English fought back after a six wicket loss in the first match.

He said, “England bounced back and bounced back well, we probably were not thinking that they are going to play that well so we have to play out of our skins to make it 2-1.”

He also added, “Obviously we were expecting a fightback from England but we also played poor cricket in that game. We were not up to the mark in batting and at no time we were in the game and we must make sure it doesn't happen next time."

Pakistan had to reconsider their batting line up following Younis Khan’s retirement and included Iftikhar Ahmed in place of him in the second ODI. Babar Azam opened the innings for Pakistan that day. The third match will take place in on Monday.

Khan’s retirement was not only questioned by Waqar, but also by the PCB Chairman, who said, “I am disappointed at not only his decision to retire from ODIs but also the timing of his decision.”

Younis will continue his journey in Test matches for his country and everyone hopes that he reaches 10,000 runs real quickly. He currently has 9116 runs in test cricket. Khan ended his ODI career after playing 265 matches and scored 7249 runs with 7 tons and 48 half centuries to his name.