KARACHI // Pakistan have appointed Younis Khan as captain in place of Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revealed. The PCB chairman Ejaz Butt said Malik had agreed to step down and would be replaced by the senior batsman Younis, 31, who would lead the side in Test and one-day matches. "Younis will be captain until further notice," Butt said in Lahore following a day of meetings.
"Bringing in Younis is a collective decision and we feel he is a very positive and aggressive captain and player." The change comes after Pakistan suffered one of their worst one-day international defeats when they were bowled out for 75 by Sri Lanka to lose by 234 runs which handed the tourists the series 2-1 at Lahore on Sunday. Butt said Malik, appointed skipper soon after Pakistan made a first round exit from the 2007 World Cup after Younis had rejected the job, lacked leadership against Sri Lanka.
"We studied the reports of the manager and coach on the team's and captain's performance against Sri Lanka and the feeling is that Malik didn't have a very positive body language as captain," Butt said. Younis has scored 4,816 runs from 58 tests and 5,306 runs in 181 one-day international matches. He has previous experience of leading Pakistan, taking charge during the 2006 Champions Trophy in India when the then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was serving a suspension.
Younis said 'quick-fix' solutions were not on his agenda. "It will take time to put things in their right order and get players to perform consistently. Everyone has to be patient for long-term results," Younis said. "I will be sitting down and talking to all the players because a captain is only as good as his team. I want their support all the time." Sri Lanka arrive next month to play two tests and Younis expects Mahela Jayawardene's team to be formidable opponents.
"They showed in the one-day series they are a very good side and the Tests will be a challenge because as a team we have not played a Test since December 2007." *Reuters
