Speak to me directly: Younus to teammates

Pakistan captain Younus Khan on Wednesday adjured his teammates to discuss fearlessly any issue with him and insisted he was not responsible for any communication gap.

Younus' comments came in the backdrop of vice-captain Shahid Afridi's revelation that some players had issues with Younus but were hesitant to approach him directly.

"I personally think that players should have the courage to fight for their rights and discuss their issues openly with the captain and management," Younus said.

Younus refused to agree that he was responsible for the communication gap in the team that has been highlighted a great deal by Afridi in recent days.

"I don't think I am responsible for this if there is any communication gap between the players it is because of the weak team management," he said.

The Pakistan cricket Board has changed the management of the national team for the coming series against New Zealand by dropping manager Yawar Saeed and his assistant Shafqat Rana whom Younus has blamed for the problems in the team.

Younus claimed some players of the team had complained to the PCB against him, which was the other reason apart from match-fixing allegations that prompted him to resign from the post before being persuaded by the Board to stay on.

"Yes, some players did go and complain about me to the Chairman of the board. I consider them weak people because if they had any problems they should have come to me and talked to me I would have tried to resolve the issues," Younus said on a popular sports show on 'Geo Super' channel.

Younus admitted that captaining Pakistan is not an easy job and carried lot of stress and tension.

"I remember Shoaib Malik as captain used to smoke all the time," Younus said on the show.

Younus dismissed allegations that he was not good at communicating with his teammates.

"That is not true I have always remained a private person but as captain I have attempted to communicate with everyone. After we beat India in the Champions Trophy, I arranged an outing for everyone but some of the players didn't show up even as I kept waiting outside the hotel," he recalled.