Lahore, Aug 18: The Pakistan Cricket Board wanted senior batsman Younis Khan to captain the national team in ODIs after the retirement of Shahid Afridi but he declined the offer insisting he wanted to focus on his batting.
 The offer to Younis was made as the Board wanted to reduce the workload on Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq who leads Pakistan in all forms of the game.
 "Younus was asked to become limited-overs captain but he refused the offer straightway," the PCB official said.
 "He said he just wanted to focus on his batting and was not ready to take captaincy as his wish was to stay away from controversies.
 "We respect his feelings and won't be forcing him to take the job. The board has now decided to rely on Misbah with the hope that he will perform and stay fit for a longer period. At least, he will be captaining the series against Sri Lanka and England in all formats," he said.
 Younis had captained Pakistan in 2009 and also led them to the Twenty20 World Cup in the same year but after an internal revolt in the team, he stepped down in acrimonious circumstances in Abu Dhabi.
 "Younis had stepped down himself because he felt the players didn't support him," a source recalled.
 After being out of the national team for nearly eight months, Younis made a return for last year's series against South Africa in the UAE and since than has been a regular member of the team in all formats.
 The report said the move to approach Younis was made when Afridi was removed as captain of the national one-day and Twenty20 squads after the troubled West Indies tour where the flamboyant all-rounder developed serious differences with head coach Waqar Younis over selection issues on the tour.
 Afridi announced his retirement in protest in late May although the Board retained him in the national team that went to Ireland for a one-day series.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
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