Former Pakistan captains Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have been banned from the national cricket team after the recent catastrophic tour of Australia, the cricket board said on Wednesday.
Two other players Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Shoaib Malik were banned for a year by the six-man committee set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to investigate the December-February tour, in which Pakistan lost the Test series 3-0, the one-day matches 5-0 and the only Twenty20 match.
The committee blamed infighting between Yousuf and Younus for the disastrous results, and recommended they “should not be part of the national team in any format.”
PCB's legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi explained the ramifications for Khan and Yousuf.
“They will not be part of any Pakistan team in any format from here on,” he said, adding that the PCB had stopped short of imposing a so-called life ban.
“A life ban means they cannot play domestic cricket or any other similar cricket, but we are not stopping them from that. They can play domestic cricket or county cricket here and abroad.
Malik and Naved were also fined (P) Rs. 2 million, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was handed a fine of (P) Rs. 3 million and Umar Akmal was fined (P) Rs. 2 million. Shahid Afridi was fined (P) Rs. 3 million for ball-tampering during the one-day series against Australia.
The Inquiry Committee comprised PCB Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari, Board member Wazir Ali Khoja, Director of Cricket Operations Zakir Khan, and team managers Yawar Saeed and Rizvi.
The players who were handed suspensions and fines appeared before the committee while other team officials — coach Intikhab Alam, assistant coach Aaqib Javed, the then manager Abdul Raqeeb, physiotherapist Faisal Hayat and analyst Mohammad Talha — were also interviewed.
The committee also looked into the manager and coaches reports of Pakistan's tour last year to the UAE for a one-day series against New Zealand, its Test series in New Zealand and the disastrous tour of Australia.
