December 15, 2007	Saturday	Zilhaj 4, 1428

LAHORE, Dec 14: Younis Khan, in a surprising rethink, has said that he is now willing to lead Pakistan’s Test side if the PCB asks him to do so. “If the PCB wants me to lead the team, I can do it. But first we (himself and the officials) need to sit down, discuss and finalise some things,” Younis said.

Younis, a 58-Test veteran, has been reluctant to captain Pakistan. He quit the captaincy, before taking it back swiftly, last year just before the ICC Champions Trophy, and then declined the post again after the Caribbean World Cup earlier this year.

The gutsy middle-order batsman was again an unwilling stand-in leader after Shoaib Malik’s ankle injury ruled him out of the last two Tests against India.

Younis had been the team’s official vice-captain for two years under Inzamam-ul-Haq and was widely expected to take over once Inzamam retired.

At the time of his refusal, he also stepped down from the vice-captain’s role, before surprisingly accepting the post for the tour to India.

“I only agreed to be vice-captain for the Indian tour because of the importance of the series. If the matches had been against any other team I might not have accepted this responsibility,” Younis stated.

“But now if the board feels I can be a good Test captain, I am willing to do it but after talking to them,” he expressed. “If the team can do well under my captaincy I would be very happy but I am not asking anyone for the job. This is the board’s prerogative whatever they want to do.”—Agencies