'No financial benefits here': Ex-Pak player claims Younis Khan snubbed them for Afghanistan

Afghanistan's hard-fought victory against England in the Champions Trophy 2025 rubbed salt in the wounds of Pakistan, with them having to watch their neighbours bear the fruits of appointing Pakistani batting legend Younis Khan as their mentor.

Questions were raised as to why he wasn't with his countrymen, but rather with their neighbours, particularly after the Green Shirts were unable to register a single victory in their home tournament.

However, ex-Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif clarified that PCB did approach Younis Khan, which was rebuffed by the ex-cricketer-turned-coach, reportedly due to monetary reasons.

"Younis Khan said no to Pakistan cricket to work with Afghanistan. There will be no financial benefits here," Latif stated on Pakistan's TV show ‘Haarna Mana Hai’, according to a report by Hindustan Times.

Khan is Afghanistan's third mentor in as many ICC tournaments, with Ajay Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo being his predecessors for the previous two white-ball tournaments.

"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 explained at the time of Younis’ appointment, HT reported.

Pakistan lost their opening match to New Zealand, and then were eliminated from the Champions Trophy following a loss to India. With their final group stage match vs Bangladesh being washed out, the 'Shaheens' became the first host nation in ICC Champions Trophy history to exit the tournament without winning a single match.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, bounced back after their defeat to South Africa, and eliminated England from the tournament thanks to Ibrahim Zadran's 177 and a brilliant all-round performance by Azmatullah Omarzai.

Their match against Australia has now become a virtual qualifier thanks to the Australia-South Africa game being washed out by rain.