In a spectacular revelation, former Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan said that certain members of the team deliberately underperformed in 2009 against New Zealand, as a conspiracy against the then captain Younis Khan.
“We lost two ODI matches against New Zealand in UAE during 2009 because some of the players involved deliberately did not play well, and I sat out that tour,” Naved is reported to have told a Pakistani news channel, according to Cricket Pakistan.
“This was not a rebellion against Younis Khan. He was a good cricketer and I did play alongside him, so there were no issues, except that when he became captain, he became a different person,” Naved said.
“They [the rebelling senior players] said we don’t want him to be removed, but we would like the PCB chairman to reason with Younis Khan as he does not take the advice of seniors as captain and does what he feels likes doing.
“I went along with this thinking that if this is the only matter and the PCB chairman tells him that, then I don’t have an issue with this.”
Pakistan opened the tour with a massive 138-run victory in the first ODI, but New Zealand won the next two to clinch the series. However, the home team bounced back to claim the two-match T20I series 2-0.
