PCB re-appoints Younis as captain

LAHORE—The newly appointed Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),Dr Naseem Ashraf installed Younis Khan as the makeshift captain and Muhammad Yousaf his deputy while removing Mushtaq Ahmad from assistant coach during India’s tour to take part in the Champions Trophy tournament.
“ The decision to re-appoint Younis as captain has been taken in the larger interest of the team to make it more united and a fighting combination in the Champions Trophy “,said Naseem Ashraf while talking to newsmen here on Saturday at Qadaffi stadium.
In less than 24 hours after his appointment the new head of PCB took a few wise decisions in a bit to infuse confidence and to reunite it after Younis declined to accept the captaincy creating a crisis of leadership in the team ahead of its participation in the Champions Trophy.
He said return of Younis as the captain will up the morale of the team which has gone down in past two days because of the leadership crisis.
“ I have spoken to Younis on this issue and asked him to lead the side which he accepted and now I believe there is no problem related to the captaincy “,he said adding “ Younis has been appointed captain for the Champions Trophy only “.
“ I am thankful to both Younis and Yousaf for accepting my thoughts and their positive approach will help in creating better understanding harmony in the team”,he added.
He rejected an impression that Younis was a dummy captain saying it never has happened in the history of Pakistan cricket that captains were without any power and authority.
“ Younis is captain with all authority and I am confident he will prove his skills in the role of a captain”,said Chairman PCB. He said PCB will not initiate any disciplinary action against Younis Khan for his earlier decision of stepping down as Captain and now this chapter is closed for ever.
Dr Naseem Ashraf said, the utmost objective is to keep away politics from cricket and the team and he would not tolerate any politics in cricket affairs.
“ We have to keep this sport clean from all such things to help our team for lifting the level of its performance in the all cricket tournaments home and abroad “,he said.
The newly appointed Chairman said he would be making efforts to improve discipline in the team.
Answering a question, he said, Mushtaq has been relieved of his duty of assistant coach as in such a short tour there is no need to have an assistant coach.
He said constitution of PCB would be presented to Patron of PCB within 45 days.
Dr Naseem Ashraf said that efforts would be made to revamp the administrative structure of PCB after a thorough study.
“ We will be taking some measures in this direction after reviewing the contracts of the employees and induction, if needed, would be made through a proper channel “,he said.
The newly appointed Chairman praised the coaching skills of Bob Woolmer and due to his training the team has developed into a fighting unit.
“ He is a talented coach and a lot of improvement has been seen during the past years since he took over as coach and we believe he would continue to inspire the team “,he added.
Chairman PCB also met the members of the Cricket team at National Cricket Academy before its departure to India.He wished them luck and hoped that all players will do their best to produce encouraging results.
“Our team is one of the best in the world and hopes are high regarding their performance in the Champions Trophy in India “,he asserted. He said PCB will not pay any claim of revenue loss to Wales and English Cricket Board occurred due to the forefeited Oval test and in this regard legal help would be sought.—Agencies