'I've had to stop smiling'
Pakistan's captain talks about the pressures and the joys and pains the job brings, in the first of a two-part interview
It's been excellent so far. I was realistic when I took over. I knew many things I would have to tolerate. That's not such a big thing. I was vice-captain for three years under Inzi [Inzamam-ul-Haq] and saw many external things. It was easier then because I didn't have to take the flak.
It's difficult because many times you have to fight for your own boys against your own people. Selectors, management and all others, they come in with their ideas and thoughts and opinions. Some say bring young guys, some say stick to older players. Everyone has their own opinion and it becomes difficult at times because you have to fight against your own people and you're defending your own boys. I have to decide when to fight, with whom, on what. Ultimately you have to decide what you feel is right and act on that. There are people who listen and agree and there are others who debate. I try to debate. In that process, some people like me and some don't.
In this region, wherever you go, everybody gives you their opinion, whether he plays cricket or not. Everyone feels they can play cricket or do everything. Some people tell you, do this, some people tell you, do that. Chholey-wale [snack sellers on the street] will tell you "This guy I don't like, kick him out." A few steps up, the Coke-seller will tell you about the same guy, "I like him, don't kick him out." Your own privacy goes because everyone not only has an opinion but they want to enforce it on you.
See, I've been playing for quite a few years and have taken many decisions in that time. Taking Shahzaib [Hasan] to the World Twenty20. He didn't play from the start, but when he did, he delivered. Then there was the Fawad Alam decision - he hadn't opened ever. I wanted to play him, so I took a chance. Everyone said he is a top player and I think this as well. I think that means he can play anywhere in the order. I did this myself. I started at six and had never played at one down before I became one. After Saeed [Anwar] and Aamer [Sohail], the one-down is pretty much an opener anyway. I got a chance to play there and I accepted it because I needed it. I was in and out of the team at the time.
"My players are from this environment so obviously they will be products of this environment. They are something today, something else tomorrow and something else the day after. This is our temperament, it is in our blood"
The conditions then were different. We were coming off a World Cup and I scored 40 runs in all my matches, so I was guilty then. My thinking was that a captain should come in when he is in good form and at the top of his game and only then can he command the respect and only then can he achieve change. At that time I wasn't in a strong position, and I would have had to compromise on many things, which I will not do. This time I was strong. The situation this time was that I was in a strong position and conditions were more suitable.
My elder brother Sharif Khan was captain of a local Karachi club, Steel Town club. He had a lot of respect and captained very well and courageously. I used to play with him and went around with him. So I picked up a lot of the mannerisms, the thinking, from him. When I used to go to club matches, I used to go as the captain's brother so that instills in you something. You know how people treat you, how you should treat people, how they respond to different behaviour.
I always discuss with [Mohammad] Yousuf and Shahid and [Shoaib] Malik also. These three are the main sounding boards on the field. Umar Gul, who has captained Peshawar, I run things by him. Whenever I am thinking of doing something, I always throw the idea out there to be discussed. I speak to [Kamran] Akmal a lot, standing next to him at slip. You don't have a coach on the ground, so four-five guys I discuss a lot with. I have been with Yousuf and Shahid and Rana [Naved-ul-Hasan] since Under-19, so we know each other well. But I also will go up to any guy, young or old, inexperienced or veteran, and just ask them their thoughts on the game.
Many people in the past have come to me, big names, to maybe try something. Under Malik's captaincy, the types of things that were happening... As a senior player who was performing, players would come up to me to try and stir things up, try and change things. "Let's do this, why don't we make a group?" and so on. But I have never been part of any cliques or groups. I have avoided them and tried to stay neutral throughout. That is why I have survived. If people come to me now to try and instigate, or get into one group, I run away. I don't want to be part of that.
"If you want to do something, just do it. Don't dilly-dally about it and regret not doing it later, just go ahead and do it. You have to take chances"
In one series, against Australia [in May 2009], I got very involved in it. It was against Australia for a start and I tried to get each and every player, individually, up for the series. I think I made about a hundred runs in the series, and I felt that my batting struggled. I got a triple-hundred against Sri Lanka, but here I was out of focus. Shoaib Akhtar was coming back, Shahid Afridi was also a little down, in a bad way. To push Shoaib, Shahid, Saeed Ajmal - who was a new guy and hit by that ICC call, there were four-five guys who really needed support and push, and in doing that I feel I lost my focus. I've thought about it hard and realised how important it is for Younis Khan to score runs, because when I have, then the team has done well mostly.
This is not something new. It is something that has been there from a long time. It is very difficult to handle as a captain. I don't smoke cigarettes that I can go and smoke away some tension. I've seen many captains either lose their hair or start smoking - I'm okay on both fronts right now. But I feel that the whole country is like this, this is how it works here. You wake up some mornings to find suddenly the whole political establishment has changed and that the army is in, or the other way round. My players are from this environment so obviously they will be products of this environment. They are something today, something else tomorrow and something else the day after. This is our temperament, it is in our blood. To change us, to take this out, it isn't just to work on the team. Many things in the country need to change.
Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo. In the second part of the interview, Younis talks about his legacy, the joy of winning World Twenty20 and the promise of Champions Trophy