Flower: Younis brought a knife to my throat
ZIMBABWEAN PLAYER GRANT LOOKS BACK AT HIS TENURE AS PAKISTAN’S BATTING COACH
ORMER Pakistan batting coach rant lower has claimed that ex-skipper ounis han had once held a knife to his throat when he tried to offer him some advice. Asked about the tricky characters that he has had to coach in his career, the 9-year-old imbabwean, who was in charge of Pakistan’s batting from 201 to 2019, recalled the incident with Younis. “Younis Khan was quite tough to master,” Flower, who is currently Sri Lanka’s batting coach, said during a conversation with his brother Andy and host Neil Manthorp on the oo ing n cricket podcast. “I remember one incident in Brisbane. During the Test, at breakfast, I tried to give him a bit of batting advice … But he didn’t take kindly to my advice and brought a knife to my throat, with Mickey Arthur sitting alongside, who had to intervene,” Flower said. “Yeah, it’s been interesting. But that’s part of coaching. It makes it a hell of a journey, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I’m very fortunate to be in the position I am,” he added. The incident happened during the opening Test of Pakistan’s tour of Australia in 2016 at Brisbane where Younis scored a duck in the first innings but managed 65 in his second outing. He ended the tour with 175 not out in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2017. Pakisan lost the threeTest series 3-0. Younis, who was recently appointed as batting coach for Pakistan’s tour of England, has amassed 10,099 runs in 118 Tests for Pakistan at an average of 52.05. Flower also singled out Pakistan opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad as another “interesting” character. “He’s a very skilful batter, but quite rebellious. Every team has got their rebel. Sometimes it makes them better players, sometimes maybe not so,” said Flower, who scored 3, 57 runs in 67 Tests and 6,571 runs in 221 ODIs for imbabwe.