December 07, 2007	Friday	Ziqa'ad 26, 1428

BANGALORE, Dec 6: Acting skipper Younis Khan has denied all rumours regarding his reluctance to lead Pakistan in the third Test due to lack of decision-making powers at his disposal.

Speaking to Dawn here late on Thursday, Younis dispelled the impression that he was unhappy about leading the side without sufficient powers handed to him. “These reports are absolutely baseless. I am looking ahead to leading the side in Bangalore and there is no rift or disagreement among the players over anything,” said Younis amid reports of his refusal which had been taking rounds since early evening.

“I myself have heard such rumours today but there is no truth in them at all,” said the seasoned batsman who led Pakistan to a magnificent draw at Kolkata. “These reports are being spread to harm the spirit of our team which is pretty confident about levelling the series against India here.”

When asked about his controversial column on similar lines in the Hindustan Times last week, Younis said it was a different scenario altogether and the issue was dead and buried now. “Then, I was hurried into the job on the morning of the Test and couldn’t change anything at that stage,” he admitted. “That had really annoyed me but things have since been sorted out.”

Media manager Ahsan Hameed Malik and manager Talat Ali also denied reports of Younis’ refusal to take up the job at Bangalore. “There has been a lot of confusion here today about it, but believe me nothing of it is true,” said Ahsan Malik.