By Omar Khalid
Karachi, Oct 19 (IANS) Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has refused to accept the resignation of Younis Khan as the captain and hoped that he will lead the team till the 2011 World Cup.

However, Butt made it clear during a press conference in Lahore that the PCB will not give any guarantees to Younis about his tenure as Pakistan captain.

“When we made Younis the (Pakistan) captain, we didn’t tell him as to how long his captaincy tenure will last. We won’t tell him about it now either,” said Butt.

“I have not accepted Younis Khan’s resignation as captain,” stressed the PCB chief. “I hope that he will stay on as our captain till the next World Cup in fact he should continue playing for Pakistan and leading it till he is fit.”

There have been reports that Butt may accept his resignation and ask all-rounder Shahid Afridi to take over as the captain for next month’s limited-overs series against New Zealand in UAE.

Younis had resigned as Pakistan captain last week following match-fixing accusations hurled at him by a head of a parliamentary committee.

Butt said that he has refused to accept the resignation and hoped that Younis will agree to take it back.

“There is no justification to remove Younis Khan as captain,” he said.

“He is the only captain who has led our team to the title in the World Twenty20 Cup. Pakistan also reached the semifinals of the Champions Trophy under his captaincy.”

Pakistan cricket was plunged into a crisis last week when Younis submitted his resignation to Butt, in protest against the match-fixing allegations made against him and his team for losing to Australia and New Zealand in the Champions Trophy.