Younis Khan likely to coach Pakistan U-19; Sohail Tanvir to be chief selector

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Former Pakistan batter Younis Khan is all likely to become the coach of Pakistan U-19 and junior teams as a verbal agreement is made between the 2009 T20 World Cup-winning captain and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Zaka Ashraf, reported Cricket Pakistan.

Retired seamer Sohail Tanvir, meanwhile, has been appointed as the chief selector of the junior team by PCB. His first assignment will be to pick the team for the Pakistan U-19 team for the 2023 ACC U19 Asia Cup (50 over) scheduled to be held between 8 and 17 December in UAE.

As far as Younis Khan is concerned, the 47-year-old former cricketer will be announced as the coach of the U-19 and junior teams after both Younis and Ashraf return from their respective trips in Dubai and India respectively. His main challenge will be the ICC U-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka from January 13 next year.

Younis Khan is up for a stiff task as the Pakistan U-19 team has struggled in the recent past. It lost in the quarterfinals in the previous edition in 2022 West Indies as they lost to Australia in the knockout stages while India lifted the trophy after beating England in the final. Former middle-order batter Ijaz Ahmed was the head coach in that tournament with former pacer Umar Gul among his coaching staff.

Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim, and Shaheen Afridi are among youngsters, who have come up from the U-19 setup in the recent past as the opener has been part of the senior teams' World Cup squads. However, Pakistan have failed to reach the final since 2014 and won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2006.

Among prominent names coming up from the U-19 World Cup squads for Pakistan are Inzamam-ul-Haq (1988); Abdul Razzaq, Imran Tahir (1998); Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Taufeeq Umar (2000); Salman Butt, Azhar Ali, Umar Gul (2002); Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam (2004); Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Nasir Jamshed (2006); Shan Masood, Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad (2008); Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq (2012); Shadab Khan (2016); Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim (2020).