Younus demands reign till WC

Younus demands reign till WC

Younus Khan told the PCB that he would withdraw his resignation only if he is retained at the helm till the 2011 World Cup.

Younus, who resigned two days back after being grilled of match-fixing charges by the National Assembly standing committee on sports, met Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ejaz Butt and demanded if he was to remain as captain he would want the job till the next World Cup.

A top PCB source confirmed that Younus and Butt had a long meeting and the senior batsman, who was being asked by the PCB chief to take back his resignation, made his stand clear.

"Younus made his position very clear to Butt that he is not taking his resignation back until all his conditions are met by the board, the most important being his appointment as captain on a long-term basis," a PCB source told PTI.

"He wanted an announcement that he will be made captain until the next World Cup so that some players who harboured ambitions of replacing him got down to concentrating on their game," he added.

The source disclosed that Younus had brought to Butt's notice about the intrigue by some players and officials to replace him as captain and also conveyed his disappointment that the PCB chief preferred to meet vice-captain Shahid Afridi, the manager and coach separately to discuss the ICC Champions Trophy performance.

"Younus also told the chairman that he was disappointed that the board didn't come out with a clear statement in favour of the team when the allegations of match-fixing were first made against them and taken up by the chairman of the National Assembly standing committee on sports," the source said.

Although Younus submitted his resignation to the PCB chairman during the hearing of the NA committee to protest over the match fixing allegations made against him and the team and the remarks by the committee chairman Jamshed Dasti but sources said the crisis runs deeper.

The 'Dawn' newspaper reported today that some players were not getting along with Younus since the tour to Sri Lanka this year and they also planned a revolt if the board didn't accept the resignation by Younus.