Younis confirmed as captain

Inzamam-ul-Haq's loss will be Younis Khan's gain as the vice-captain was confirmed as captain of Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, after the ICC slapped a four-match ODI ban on Inzamam. Abbas Zaidi, director operations PCB, confirmed to AFP what Inzamam had said yesterday. "Younis will lead Pakistan in the ICC Trophy."

The ICC on Thursday penalised Inzamam for bringing the game into disrepute but absolved him of ball tampering charges after a two-day hearing in London. Younis told AFP that Inzamam was a big loss for the tournament, which starts in India early next month.

"Inzamam is our key player but we will take this as a challenge and the team will try its level best to win the Champions Trophy, which is the second biggest event after the World Cup."

Younis has been in a rich vein of form in Tests since his comeback in October 2004. He is averaging nearly 65 from 19 Tests with seven hundreds, establishing himself at one-down as well as a popular and effective vice-captain. And though his ODI position has been more tenuous, he had a good series against England recently, scoring only his second ODI century in the third match of the series.

As captain, Younis's innovative and energetic style has already found fans, including Imran Khan and Nasser Hussain. In Pakistan, among fans and journalists, there has been prolonged debate since the start of the year about when and if Younis should take over as full-time captain, so impressive has he been on occasion.

He has led Pakistan in two Tests and ODIs previously, winning and losing one each in both forms of the game. As official vice-captain, he is - if all goes to plan - expected to take over once Inzamam retires, in light of which, the opportunity to lead Pakistan in four games will be useful one. "It's a great challenge and honour to lead the country, and this current team is a well-knit side," he said. "If we play to our potential, we can do well."