PCB clears Younis Khan after accepting his apology

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and former captain, Younis Khan finally appear to have put an end to the controversy which erupted after the latter walked out of the Pakistan Cup one-day tournament in Faisalabad after a run-in with match officials.

Just 24 hours after confirming it had issued a show-cause notice to Younis for breaching clauses of the tournament code and his central contract, the PCB said yesterday it had accepted an apology from Younis.

On Tuesday, the board had also stopped Younis from returning to Faisalabad and play for the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa team which he led in the event before his run-in with the match officials.

"In his response to the show cause notice, Younis has expressed regret over his conduct and has duly apologized," the PCB said in a statement.

"In view of his acceptance of the wrong-doing and consequent apology, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has decided to accept his explanation," the statement said.

"Consequently, Younis may now join the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) squad should the team qualify for the final of the 2016 Pakistan Cup," it said.

KP sans Younis and led by Pakistan opener, Ahmed Shehzad qualified for the final last night after a close high-scoring match against Sindh with the skipper reeling out a century.

Shaharyar Khan in the statement said that Younis has served Pakistan cricket for a number of years and he has developed a shining reputation in Pakistan and abroad. "While this incident is unfortunate, I am glad to note that Younis has admitted his mistake," he said.

The 38-year old batsman, who has scored 9116 runs in 104 Tests with 31 hundreds, is known to be short tempered and sources say he just didn't have a run-in with match officials in Faisalabad but also with his team coach, Kabir Khan.

"Younis left the KP team without informing anyone and Kabir had complained to the PCB after which the show-cause notice was issued," one source said.

Younis, who has played in 265 ODIs, was also fined 50 per cent of his match fees by the match referee after KP's second match for not attending a disciplinary hearing.

The source said Shaharyar had again spoken to Younis and advised him to rethink his position and respond to the notice.

Younis had retired from ODIs last November after a dispute with national selectors over his future in ODIs. In the next 12 months, Pakistan is slated to play around 12 to 14 Tests against England, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and experts see this as the best opportunity for Younis to become the first Pakistani batsman to achieve 10,000 runs in Test cricket.