The Pakistan Cricket Board may appoint Shahid Afridi to lead the Pakistani team in next month's World Twenty20 Championships in England, as skipper Younis Khan is reluctant to continue his duty. According to media reports, the current Pakistan captain Younis Khan is unhappy with the bitter criticism aimed at him for losing the ODI series against Australia. It is reported that Younis Khan might step down as Pakistan captain for the Twenty20 assignment.

 

Sources said that Younis Khan is considering to improve his batting performance instead of focusing on captaincy. Khan managed to score mere 73 runs in the five-match series against Australia. His highest score in the recently concluded series was 28 runs. Apart from these, the team also lost the series by 2-3. Younis Khan-led Pakistani team has been lambasted by several former cricketers of the country for losing the series against a second string Australia team.

 

Former Pakistan captains Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq heavily criticised Younis Khan and felt that the team lost a golden opportunity to beat the world champions. Younis Khan took the role of captaincy from Shoaib Malik in January this year. Another reason that stands against the appointment of Younis Khan for T20 world cup is that he is mainly a Test batsman and T20 cricket demands hard-hitting batting performance. Younis Khan could not perform well in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last summer.