: Punishing certain players had become necessary to end the culture of indiscipline in the national team, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt said on Sunday.

"For long now, the trend we saw in the team was that some players were only playing for themselves as individuals and not keeping team interest paramount," Butt told the media in Sargodha.

"You could see this from the body language of players on the tour of Australia what was going on in the team. There was indiscipline," he said.

Butt said the board felt time had come to put an end to this culture in the team which was damaging Pakistan cricket.

"So we took what we felt was the best possible action against the players," he added.

The PCB, acting on the recommendations of an inquiry committee, imposed indefinite bans on senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan and banned Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved for one year besides fining them two million rupees each.

The board also fined all-rounder Shahid Afridi and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal three million rupees each and put them on six months probation, besides imposing a fine of two million rupees on Umar Akmal.

"We have sent out a clear message to the players that we will no longer tolerate any act that goes against the team or board policies," Butt said.