Difficult to fill void left by Misbah, Younis: Latif

As Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan bid adieu to international cricket following a successful Test series against West Indies, former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif has admitted that it would be extremely difficult for the country's cricket board to fill in the huge void left by the two retiring greats.

Pakistan on Sunday clinched a thrilling 101-run win in the third and final Test with six balls to spare to seal a first series victory in the West Indies, thus giving one of the most heart-stopping send-off possible to retiring Misbah and Younis.

Following the win, Latif insisted that the duo had contributed a lot to the country's cricket and, therefore, it wouldn't be easy to replace them.

"It won't be easy to fill the vacuum left after their retirement. Both have provided great services for Pakistan cricket," the Dawn quoted Latif as saying.

Earlier, PCB chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq had assured the country's cricket fans that replacements of both Misbah and Younis will emerge in the future.

Inzamam, while responding to a poser about Pakistan's chances after the retirements of 75-Test Misbah and 118-Test Younis, said similar concerns were raised and people were worried when players like Imran Khan and Wasim Akram left the game but eventually their replacements were found.

Misbah and Younis had earlier announced that they would bid adieu to international cricket following the recently-concluded three-match Test series against West Indies, which the tourists eventually won 2-1.

Misbah played 75 Test matches, scoring 5,222 runs and is currently seventh on the list of Pakistan's highest Test run-getters.

The 42-year-old also inspired Pakistan to the top of the ICC Test team rankings for the first time in history. Although their stint at the top was short-lived as India replaced them.

Younis, on the other hand, became the first Pakistani batsman to score 10000 Test runs.

Younis' career batting average of 52.05 is also the best by any Pakistani batsman and the third best by any batsman from Asia.

Earlier this year, Younis also became the first cricketer in Test history to score centuries in 11 countries when he smashed his 34th hundred in the third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), tying him with Sunil Gavaskar, Mahela Jayawardene and Brian Lara in the all-time list at sixth place.