Are Pak players happy over Younus' quitting?

Karachi:

By and large, Younus Khan may enjoy the sympathy of the entire nation after dramatically quitting the Pakistan cricket captain's post but the player clearly doesn't have full backing of the cricket board and his teammates.

Though the general reaction to Younus' decision to quit captaincy, after grilled by parliamentarians on match-fixing charges, has generally been very supportive, things are not as simple as they appear on the surface.

While Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaj Butt is insisting that he has not accepted Younus' resignation and would meet him to convince him to reconsider his decision, he also called a meeting of his think-tank on Friday to discuss the entire situation.

A member of the PCB governing council also described Younus as a "dictator" and said some of his decisions in the Champions Trophy were questionable as he didn't listen to the advice of his senor teammates.

Some of Younus' teammates have also become active and are using the media to circulate stories that Younus had become unpopular among his teammates and that they were generally happy he had stepped down.

A popular television claimed some members of the Pakistan team, who didn't want to be named, had told him that Younus had become a dictator and it was good that he resigned. The players also didn't want the board to ask Younus to rethink his decision.

Former player Mushtaq Ahmed said PCB should accept Younus' resignation and appoint Shahid Afridi as the captain of the one-day team and Mohammad Yousuf as the Test side captain.

"If Younus has resigned then the board must accept his resignation as he is not in the proper frame of mind to lead the team now. It would be better if Afridi was asked to lead the one-day side and a senior player like Yousuf named Test captain," Mushtaq said.

While Butt has made it clear that he would talk to Younus again before the October 19 governing council meeting, indications are that the board is also not 100 percent certain about asking Younus to continue as captain.