Rediff

Islamabad, Jan 28: Pakistan have appointed Younis Khan as captain in place of Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday.

PCB chairman Ejaz Butt told reporters Malik had agreed to step down and would be replaced by senior batsman Younis, 31, who would lead the side in Test and one-day matches.

"Younis will be captain until further notice," Butt said in Lahore following a day of meetings.

"Bringing in Younis is a collective decision and we feel he is a very positive and aggressive captain and player."

The change comes after Pakistan suffered one of their worst one-day international defeats when they were bowled out for 75 by Sri Lanka to lose by 234 runs and the series 2-1 at Lahore on Sunday.

Butt said Malik, appointed skipper soon after Pakistan made a first round exit from the 2007 World Cup after Younis had rejected the job, lacked leadership against Sri Lanka.

"We studied the reports of the manager and coach on the team's and captain's performance against Sri Lanka and the feeling is that Malik didn't have a very positive body language as captain," Butt said.

Younis has scored 4,816 runs from 58 Tests and 5,306 runs in 181 one-day international matches. He has previous experience of leading Pakistan, taking charge during the 2006 Champions Trophy in India when then captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was serving a suspension.