LAHORE: Pakistan cricket reverberated with yet another major crisis on Wednesday when the sport’s national authorities hastily named veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf as Test captain for the New Zealand series in place of an embattled Younis Khan who, amid reports of rising player-power within the team, requested a break from international duty.

‘Younis Khan has requested the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for a break from international cricket and hence will skip the Test series against New Zealand. Mohammad Yousuf has been named captain and Kamran Akmal as his deputy,’ a short press release of the PCB said on Wednesday.

Surprisingly, Yousuf, 35, has been appointed as captain after being dropped for the series-deciding One-day International against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi just two days ago. The classical batsman has played 82 Tests and 278 one-dayers so far.

When contacted, PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt avoided giving comment on the new development.

‘The PCB has issued a press release and that is enough,’ Ijaz replied abruptly from Abu Dhabi when contacted by Dawn.

Asked the press release was not indicating if Younis would be available for the forthcoming tour of Australia, the PCB chief added: ‘It will be seen later; presently the press release is enough.’

Pakistan will fly from the UAE on Sunday to play three Tests in New Zealand. The first Test starts in Dunedin on Nov 24.

Later talking to reporters, the board’s Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari also avoided giving complete answers to questions, adding that the stakeholders sitting in Abu Dhabi were consulted before taking the decision.

Reacting to the news reports on groupings within the team playing a role in the captaincy change, Bari said he would not make any comment on those.

Like Ijaz, it seemed Bari was also not sure about Younis’ availability for the Australia tour, to start from Dec 19.

Younis was named the captain to replace Shoaib Malik at a difficult time earlier this year as Pakistan lost the limited-overs series to Sri Lanka at home, when the hosts surrendered the last game of the three-match series by a huge margin of 234 runs in Lahore, collapsing to 75 all out.

Though Younis embarked upon the leadership journey with a glorious triple century (313) against Sri Lanka in the opening Test in Karachi, he could not maintain his performance, resulting in player-power turning against him to make life difficult for the middle-order batsman, aged 31.

However, winning the World Twenty20 title in England in June was a considerable achievement Pakistan made under Younis’ captaincy. The memorable triumph at Lord’s received a grand welcome in the country.

But before winning the mega event, the team had lost a one-day series 2-3 against Australia in the United Arab Emirates during April-May.

Pakistan also failed to overcome Sri Lanka in their backyard in Test and One-day International series and though the Younis-guided squad fared pretty well in the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa in September-October, they lost the all-important semi-final against New Zealand.

Younis, with 63 Tests under his belt, stunned everyone by offering to resign  from captaincy during a hearing at the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Sports, while protesting match-fixing allegations against his team after the loss at the hands of New Zealand in the semi-final.

After the PCB chief refused to accept the resignation, Younis made some demands to lead the side again, some of which were accepted.

But after coming back as skipper, it looks like Younis could not get due support from his players, the dismal manner Pakistan lost the series against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi being a significant sign of it.

Agencies add: ‘Yes, Younis has asked for a rest so we have appointed Yousuf as captain for the three-Test tour,’ Ijaz said. ‘It has nothing to do with the defeat against New Zealand [in Abu Dhabi].’

The PCB chief added he had no objection to Younis asking for rest. ‘We did appoint Younis as captain until the 2011 World Cup, subject to his performance and fitness, but we have no objection to him asking for a rest, and I don’t think it’s turmoil in Pakistan cricket.’