Younus seeks meeting with PCB Chairman Butt

Karachi:

After months of being at loggerheads with the Pakistan Cricket Board, former captain Younus Khan now wants to meet PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt to resolve the outstanding disputes.

His lawyer Ahmed Qayyum confirmed today that Younus had sent a letter to the board asking them to give time for a meeting.

"Younus is keen to resolve this issue. So he has sent in writing he is available for a meeting. Now it is up to the board when they call him for the meeting. From day one of this problem my client has been keen to resolve this problem," Qayyum said.

Younus was among the seven players banned or fined by the board in March after the disastrous tour to Australia.

But after he appealed against his ban, the appellate tribunal of the PCB said the board had not followed the proper procedure in moving to penalise him and removed his ban and left the ball in the PCB's court.

But since then Butt has refused to give Younus clearance until he comes and meets him like other players and sorts out his case.

The PCB last week sent a notice to Younus asking him to respond and resolve the issue in a week's time or he could face a further ban.

Qayyum noted that Younus wanted to have a meeting and if the matter was resolved then both parties could agree to a settlement and the matter could be wrapped up properly.

The national selectors last Friday had ignored Younus for the series against South Africa with the PCB opting to surprisingly appoint Misbah-ul-Haq as captain for the Tests against South Africa although he has not played for Pakistan since the Twenty20 World Cup.

Chief selector Mohsin Khan confirmed that the selectors first preference was to get Younus back into the team for the Test series but the board Chairman had not given them clearance for this.

With the PCB Chairman due to return home on Friday the meeting with Younus is likely to take place on Saturday.