Younis Khan triggers a row in Pakistan cricket, walks out of domestic tournament over umpiring standards

Pakistan cricket has a tendency to find itself in news for all the wrong reasons. Senior batsman Younis Khan has triggered a controversy after returning home midway through the Pakistan Cup in Faisalabad after being dissatisfied with the umpiring standards.

Younis, who is the captain of the Khyber Pakhtunkwa, one of the five teams in the tournament, was fined 50% of his match fee for breaching the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) domestic code of conduct by speaking against the umpiring standards. When summoned for a disciplinary hearing by match referee Aziz-ur-Rehman, the batsman decided to walk out of the tournament in protest.

"Younis left because he felt his reputation was being tarnished at this stage of his career and this was not acceptable to him," a source was quoted as saying by cricketaustralia.com.

"He (Younis) was not happy with the standard of umpiring and when the referee summoned him for a disciplinary hearing over some remarks he had made to fourth umpire Rashid Riaz after Friday's match, he decided to leave the tournament in protest."

The 38-year-old was reportedly unhappy with umpire Shozab Raza after he turned down an LBW appeal against Islamabad captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who went on to score a crucial 82 in their two-wicket win against Khyber Pakhtunkwa. This lead to Younis questioning the umpire, which later prompted his departure from the tournament.

The veteran, received support from batting legend Mohammad Yousuf, who agreed the umpiring had been poor.

Speaking to cricketaustralia.com, Yousuf said: "I was watching the match when the Misbah incident happened, there was no doubt that Misbah was out and the ball was hitting middle. Younis being a captain has the right to ask the umpire that why he felt it was not out.

"The officials should have taken it lightly and the referee should have not fined him. Umpires themselves make so many blunders in Pakistan domestic cricket, if the umpire didn't give it out just because the batsman was Misbah then the PCB should ban the umpire instead."

Opener Ahmed Shehzad, who was part of Pakistan's T20 squad for the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2016, has been named the captain in Younis's absence.