KARACHI, Oct 6: An emotional decision in a moment of madness led to Younis Khan surrendering the Pakistan captaincy on Thursday, informed sources told Dawn on Friday.

Contrary to various theories circulating in the media, implying that the Peshawar-born player withdrew from captaincy over Faisal Iqbal’s inclusion or he was unhappy on Pakistan Cricket Board’s backing of Inzamam as long-term skipper, the truth is he has only himself to blame for relinquishing the captaincy over a really trivial matter.

“Though Younis had been under some pressure for a while due to low-keyed opposition to his captaincy from Yousuf, Razzaq and Afridi, the incident which triggered his resignation occurred at the PCB chairman’s office at the Gaddafi Stadium,” revealed one source.

He disclosed that Younis had requested the board chairman to reconsider the termination of a low paid employee of the board who was facing financial problems but it was not properly heeded by Shaharyar.

“Younis had gone to see Shaharyar Khan for this very reason on Thursday morning. To his misfortune, the peon sitting outside the chairman’s office didn’t recognize him and asked him to wait although the PCB chief was alone in his office,” the source said.

“Younis got extremely upset with the peon’s attitude and after waiting for a while, left the office in a fit of anger. When Shaharyar finally came to know about Younis’s visit, he immediately asked the peon to send him in but the player had left by then,” the source added.

“Younis, who took the small incident as an insult, broke down and announced at the press conference he was withdrawing from the captaincy,” the source stated.

According to eye witnesses, the announcement caused a lot of commotion at the ground and PCB’s Director Cricket Operations, Saleem Altaf and the manager for the Champions Trophy, Talat Ali rushed to have a word with Younis at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). “But he didn’t listen to them, neither did he discuss the reasons behind his sudden move to quit captaincy. All he said was that he had made up his mind. Saleem Altaf later told a colleague that he was disgusted with Younis’s behaviour as he was just not willing to listen to reason.”

It was also said that in the emergency ad-hoc committee meeting later on Thursday, Saleem Altaf suggested that Younis be dropped from the Champions Trophy squad to set an example for others but the members disagreed. “Shaharyar pointed out that it would deepen the crisis futher and will not augur well for Pakistan’s chances in the mega event.”

“It was only after Shaharyar’s wife spoke to Younis that he started talking sense but by that time it was too late.”

Sources said that board’s top priority at that precise moment was to save face which it did by appointing Mohammad Yousuf as captain and by announcing that Younis had breached discipline and would face an inquiry after the Champions Trophy.

But while Younis Khan’s decision came as a shock to fans and critics alike, sources close to the player insisted the his behaviour was a true reflection of his nature. “You have to know Younis well to comprehend why he would take such a big decision over such a trivial matter,” confided a source. “He is that way, a loner an independently thinking person, a volatile Pathan who takes any sort of snub as a slight on his self-respect and he takes it very hard.”

"Younis might be regretting his dramatic decision now but the fact is it has hurt his future as captain irreparably,” said an analyst. “Don’t forget his clash with Shahid Afridi last year in the West Indies which was also over a trivial matter when he insisted Afridi should open the innings and the all-rounder refused. Younis took it as a affront on his honour and felt Afridi was not as supportive towards him as he was towards Inzamam-ul-Haq."