If anybody doubted the unifying effect that Inzamam-ul-Haq has had on Pakistan cricket, the proof has been in his absence. Less than a week after the captain was suspended for his part in Pakistan's dressing-room strike at The Oval his replacement, Younis Khan, abruptly resigned before he had taken charge in a match.
Younis offered no explanation for his decision only two days before Pakistan fly to India for the Champions Trophy. "I don't want to be a dummy captain and the reason why I have refused the captaincy will be revealed afterwards," he said.
Speculation raged as to the reasons. Some are adamant that Younis was unhappy at a lack of support from some influential players - the same players who responded without a murmur when Inzaman instructed them not to take the field in the final Test against England in protest over allegations of ball-tampering, a decision that ultimately brought him the four-match ban.
The Pakistan board, barely out of emergency session over the ball-tampering allegations brought by the umpire Darrell Hair, spent most of yesterday addressing the latest crisis. The upshot was the appointment of Mohammad Yousuf as captain with Abdul Razzaq as his deputy.
A PCB statement said that it "deeply regrets that Younis Khan chose to announce his withdrawal from the captaincy of the team for the Champions Trophy. He did so without prior consultation with the board. His decision to renounce the captaincy was a breach of discipline."
It added: "Younis Khan has since expressed his regret to the chairman [Shaharyar Khan] for the unsavoury incident. [He] has reconfirmed to the chairman that he does not wish to be considered for the captaincy of the team for the Champions Trophy and has conveyed to the chairman that he is prepared to continue playing as a team member . . . [He] will continue to play in the team."
Once again Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's coach, was left to provide some emollient words. "I am very saddened because he is a very good player and I have a great relationship with him," he said. "My view is that he has resigned for a number of personal reasons and those reasons are best told by Younis himself."
Younis, named batsman of the series in England last summer - in both Test and one-day series - survived some demands for him to be dropped and disciplined. But the winner is Yousuf. When he changed his religion from Christian to Moslem, and changed his name from Yousuf Youhana, many said it was a road to the captaincy. So it has proved.
Meanwhile, Billy Doctrove, who umpired in The Oval Test, has been overlooked as one of the officials for the Champions Trophy. The West Indian, who stood alongside Darrell Hair in the forfeited fourth Test against England, is the only one of the nine remaining elite umpires not to be chosen."There is nothing sinister at all," insisted an ICC spokesman.
