Younis turns down PCB's compromise offer

Former captain Younis Khan is in no mood to step down from his fight against the Pakistan Cricket Board over the indefinite ban imposed on him and has turned down a PCB offer to go for a compromise settlement.

Sources close to the legal advisors of the Board and Younis said that the PCB had through its legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi floated an offer that if Younis withdraws his appeal and didn't contest the ban, they would remove this and close the chapter by just fining him.

"But Younis who has left for England has told his lawyer Ahmed Qayyum that he should see that the Board's appeal judge Justice (retd) Irfan Qadir gives a full verdict on the appeal lodged by the former captain against his ban," a source said.

Sources also said that Younis was not ready to accept any wrongdoing on his part even if the PCB was indicating he could be back playing for Pakistan soon under the compromise formula.

"The Board basically wants to close the chapter and has made a settlement offer to Younis Khan's lawyer," the source said.

The Board on the recommendation of its inquiry committee that looked into the team's poor performance in Australia early this year banned Younis for an indefinite period from playing for Pakistan.

The ban was imposed in March and Younis has appealed against it and also attended two hearings with Justice Qadir.

"Younis is adamant that he has done nothing wrong except to try to do his best for Pakistan and has never been part of any grouping or lobbying and so the ban on him is totally unjustified and he wants a full verdict on his appeal from the judge," another source said.

Younis has demanded that the appeals judge suspend his ban and also hold his hearings on camera so that the media and people know the truth and can decide if the ban on him is justified.

Even at the hearing of the National Assembly standing committee on sports on Monday, Younis made it clear that he had never indulged in politics or intrigues in the team and the ban must be removed without any condition.

The NA committee has told the PCB that it feels that Younis has been treated unfairly and the bans and fines on players must be reviewed.

The Board on Tuesday included Younis and another banned player Shoaib Malik into the list of probables for the Asia Cup and England tour but on condition that they are cleared by the appeals judge.

Justice Qadir is due to hear Younis's appeal on May 29 and the former captain has also threatened to go to court if he didn't get justice from him.