Shoaib Malik has paid the price of Pakistan's run of poor form and will be replaced as captain by Younis Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board said today.
The PCB chairman, Ejaz Butt, told reporters that Malik had agreed to step down and would be replaced by Younis, 31, who would lead the side in Test and one-day matches.
"Younis will be captain until further notice," Butt said in Lahore. "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 captain 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 Inzamam-ul-Haq was serving a suspension.
