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[nahia]

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday with the country's Board putting an end to the international careers of former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan besides imposing a one-year ban on Shoaib Malik in the wake of the team's disastrous tour of Australia.

Pakistan were whitewashed in all three formats of the game in Australia and the PCB had set up an inquiry committee headed by Wasim Bari to probe the reasons for the debacle.

As recommended by the committee, former captain Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were handed one-year bans.

The inquiry committee had recommended that Yousuf and Younis should no longer be part of the national team in any format because of their bad influence on the team and that Malik and Rana be banned for 12 months and fined 2 million rupees each.

The Akmal brothers -- Kamran and Umar -- and Afridi have been put on probation for six months besides being fined between Rs 2-3 million for indiscipline on the tour, the PCB statement said.

The punishments are set to impact the composition of Pakistan's World Twenty20 Championship. The team is the defending champion in this format and the 15-man squad for the event is due to be out by the end of this month.

According to sources, the report was discussed by the PCB chairman Ejaz Butt with the national selection committee on Monday as part of the selection process for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.

"Apparently at the meeting, there were mixed reactions to the strong recommendations keeping in mind that upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies where Pakistan defends its title," the source stated.

The inquiry committee apparently had serious reservations over the attitude and commitment shown by Malik and Rana in Australia where they are accused of not cooperating with the management.

He said the captain, coach and manager on the Australian tour had reported Malik and Rana for misbehaviour and not cooperating with the management a fact confirmed by some other players who appeared before the probe committee.

This is the first time in Pakistan cricket history that the Board has taken such strong disciplinary action against so many players at one time.