Younis Khan to meet PCB chief over future

Younis Khan, the former Pakistan captain, has acknowledged receiving a notice from the PCB, asking him to meet the board chief Ijaz Butt to discuss his continued exclusion from the national team.

Younis, who has agreed to the meeting, was punished by the PCB for disciplinary reasons in the aftermath of a winless tour of Australia in 2009-10; the board decided that he would not be selected for an indefinite period. The sanction seemed to have beenlifted in June this year, when an appeals tribunal referred the case back to the board and Younis was included in the list of probables for the Asia Cup.

But he has not been cleared for selection since then by Butt. The chairman, it is believed, is expecting an apology from Younis - the other players who were punished and have now been taken back into the fold have all apologised to the chairman - while Younis has refused to issue one, believing he has done nothing to apologise for.

"I was expecting a lot more in the letter but it just asks me to meet the chairman and I have no problems doing that. I think in the next two or three days the chairman will give me time and I will meet him," Younis told reporters in Lahore, where he is leading Peshawar Panthers in the domestic Twenty20 Cup. Had he refused to contact the board, Younis could have been issued a show-cause notice, asking him to address the charges laid against him again.

Younis said he was eager to play for Pakistan but did not want to speculate over his future. "Who doesn't want to play for his country? But I cannot say anything about my future at this stage, until I have my meeting with the board chairman," he said.