Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Rashid Latif has made a bold claim recently that the legendary batter and his former teammate Younis Khan went to mentor Afghanistan after denying to work with the Pakistan cricket team.
Younis Khan is currently working as the mentor of the Afghanistan cricket team in the ongoing Champions Trophy. He was appointed to the role just before the beginning of the tournament to help the team get useful information about the conditions in Pakistan.
Afghanistan needed a local cricketer who has played a lot in these conditions and knows about it. Younis fits into that role as he has played a lot of matches here in international cricket and is well aware of the pitch and the conditions.
Watch: Joe Root seen crying badly after Afghanistan throw England out of Champions Trophy 2025
Rashid Latif makes a bold claim on Younis Khan
While speaking during a show ‘Haarna Mana Hai’ on Geo News, Rashid Latif was asked about Younis Khan’s decision to mentor the Afghanistan team in the Champions Trophy.
Latif made a bold claim that Younis refused to work with Pakistan as he was more interested in Afghanistan. He even claimed that working in Pakistan wouldn’t give him any financial benefits.
“Younis Khan said no to Pakistan cricket to work with Afghanistan. There will be no financial benefits here,” Latif said during the show.
“Younis Khan said no to Pakistan and preferred working with Afghanistan.”
– Rashid Latif 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/TPHZnJUY5Y
— M (@anngrypakiistan) February 27, 2025
Why was Younis Khan appointed as Afghanistan’s mentor?
Younis Khan was appointed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) for the role of the mentor in Champions Trophy 2025. He joined the team for a conditioning camp ahead of the tournament to help the players give insightful information about Pakistani conditions.
“Since the Champions Trophy is being held in Pakistan, it was required to assign a talented and experienced player as a mentor from the hosting country. We already had efficient experience with hosting countries’ mentors in ODI World Cup 2023 and T20I World Cup 2024,” ACB chief executive Naseeb Khan had said at the time of appointment.
Afghanistan have preferred to hire the host country’s former cricketers as mentors. They hired Ajay Jadeja as the team mentor for the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India. They defeated the big teams like England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in the tournament but just missed out on the semi-finals/
In the T20 World Cup 2024 held in the West Indies and the USA, Afghanistan hired Dwayne Bravo for the job. The team had an excellent tournament and made it to their first-ever semi-finals in a senior tournament.
Since the Champions Trophy 2025 is being held in Pakistan, the ACB decided to rope in Younis as the mentor. Apart from Younis, Jonathan Trott is the head coach of the team and the team has been constantly improving under his guidance.
Pakistan’s diappointing performance in Champions Trophy
Pakistan is having a horrendous tournament as they have lost both of their matches so far. The Men in Green lost their first match to New Zealand and then lost to India in their second match.
They are now out of the tournament with New Zealand and India having qualified for the semi-finals. On the other hand, Afghanistan have a chance to qualify if they beat Australia in their next match.
